BYJU’s founder : India’s newest billionaire is the former classroom teacher. Who decided to develop an online education app to spread his knowledge to many. Certainly grown to a valuation of almost $6 billion in about seven years.
Byju Raveendran joined the club after his Think & Learn Pvt scored $150 million in funding earlier this month. That deal conferred a value of $5.7 billion on the company. Of which the founder owns more than 21 per cent. People familiar with the matter said. Its closing coincided with the announcement that the company’s Byju’s app — named after the founder — will team up with Walt Disney Co. and taking its service to American shores by early 2020.
The 37 year old entrepreneur said he wants to do something similar for Indian education. What the Mouse House did for entertainment. Thus he is taking big step geographically and creatively. In his new app, Disney staples from The Lion King’s Simba to Frozen’s Anna teach math and English to students from grades one to three. The same characters will star in some fun kids activities like puzzles, quiz, etc.
Mr Raveendran, the chief executive officer said. “Kids everywhere relate to Disney’s Simba or Moana, who grip kids’ attention before we take them through the loop of learning.”
BYJU’s : In The Air
Online learning is booming especially under BYJU’S own turf as one has the access to good qualified teachers and nice teaching faculty. Online at a very minimal price. And it is helping them at any time of the day. Repeating the lessons and answering the queries. Many students hesitates and many don’t like the time bound studies in the tuition centers. When one can get both convenience and knowledge in such a full fledged pack. Why won’t they accept it. India’s online learning market is expected to more than double to $5.7 billion by 2020, according to the government-backed India Brand Equity Foundation.
Education technology for kindergarten through 12th grade is one of the fastest-growing segments of the country’s internet market, said Anil Kumar, chief executive officer of Redseer Management Consulting Pvt. “Indian education startups are well set to seize the global opportunity given that they already cater to a large English-speaking base and have created unique education content,” he said.
BYJU’S growth has been recommendable along side the market. Its revenues are expected to more than double to Rs. 3,000 crore ($435 million) in the year ending March 2020. It’s growth has already caught the attention of Naspers Ventures and Tencent Holdings Ltd. to Sequoia Capital and Facebook-founder Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan.
The Byju’s founder Raveendran grew up in a village on India’s southern coast where his parents were school-teachers. He was quite a reluctant player and used to study on his own at home. He became an engineer and then began helping friends crack entry exams to top Indian engineering and management schools. Later on he started teaching thousands in sports stadiums. Becoming a guest tutor who commuted between multiple cities during weekends.
Byju’s approach is simple. Captivate kids by transforming the content to fit short attention spans. Mr Raveendran has always had ambitions to crack English-speaking countries. Above all he has even flown in YouTube stars to feature in his videos.
“We are customizing Disney Byju’s to the American and British school curriculum,” Mr Raveendran said. “The characters have universal appeal.”
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