Byju's
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | |
Founded | 2011[1] |
Founders | |
Headquarters | , India |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Byju Raveendran (Founder & CEO) Divya Gokulnath (Co-Founder & Director)[2] |
Products | BYJU’S - The Learning App |
Revenue | ₹2,800 crore (US$330 million) (FY 2020)[3] |
Subsidiaries |
|
Website | byjus |
Byju’s is an Indian multinational educational technology company, headquartered in Bangalore, India. It was founded in 2011 by Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath.[4][5]
History
Byju's' app was developed by Think and Learn Pvt Ltd, established by Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath in 2011.[4][1][6] Raveendran, who was trained as an engineer, started coaching students to pass mathematics exams in 2006.[4] In 2011, he and his wife founded an educational company with the help of his students offering online video-based learning programs for the K-12 segment as well as competition exams.[7][8] In 2012, Think and Learn entered both Deloitte Technology Fast 50 India and Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific ratings and has been present there ever since.[1][9]
In August 2015, after 4 years of developments, the firm launched Byju's: The Learning App.[10][7][11]
In 2017, Think and Learn launched Byju's Math App for kids and Byju's Parent Connect app to help parents track their child's learning course.[12][13] By 2018, it had 1.5 crore (15 million) users and 900,000 paid users.[14][15] In July 2019, Byju's won the sponsorship rights for the Indian cricket team jersey, replacing its former sponsor Oppo.[16] Shah Rukh Khan is the brand ambassador for Byju's.
Products and services
Byju's is an education tutoring app that runs on a freemium model,[17] with free access to content limited for 15 days after the registration.[17][18] It was launched in August 2015,[19] offering educational content for students from class 4 to 12. and In 2019 Early learning program has started for class 1 to 3.[14] It also trains students for examinations in India such as IIT-JEE, NEET, CAT, IAS and international examinations such as GRE and GMAT.[20]
Academic subjects and concepts are explained with 12-20 minute digital animation videos.[21][22][23] Byju's reports to have 4 crore (40 million) users overall, 30 lakh (3 million) annual paid subscribers and an annual retention rate of about 85%.[24][25] In 2019, the company announced that it would launch its app in regional Indian languages.[26][14] It also planned to launch an international version of the app for English-speaking students in other countries.[27][28] Recently, Byju's launched new programs in its Early Learn App for students of kindergarten as well.[29]
Acquisitions
- In July 2017, Think and Learn acquired TutorVista (including Edurite) from Pearson.[30][31][32]
- In January 2019, Byju's acquired a US-based Osmo, a maker of educational games for children aged 3–8 years for $120 million.[33]
- Byju's also acquired Indian startup WhiteHat Jr for $300 million.[34]
- According to a report, Byju's has signed a deal to acquire Aakash Educational Services for US$1 billion.[35]
- In February 2021, Byju’s acquires Mumbai-based doubt clearing platform Scholr.[36]
- In April 2021, Byju's acquired test prep firm Aakash Educational Services Ltd. in an estimated $950 million cash and stock deal. Aakash's founders and Blackstone Group will receive minority stakes in Byju's as part of the deal.[37]
Funding and financials
- Byju's received seed funding from Aarin Capital in 2013.[38]
- As of 2019, Byju's had secured nearly $785 million in funding from investors, including Sequoia Capital India, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), Tencent, Sofina, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Brussels-based family office Verlinvest, development finance institution IFC, Napsters Ventures, CPPIB and General Atlantic.[15][39][40] Byju's was the first company in Asia to receive an investment from Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative (co-funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan).[41][42][43]
- As per the company filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Byju's became a unicorn and was valued at ₹6,505 crore ($1 billion) as of March 2018.[44][39]
- In June 2020, Byju's attained the decacorn status with an investment by Mary Meeker's Bond Capital.[45]
- In September 2020, Byju's replaced Oppo as the title sponsor of the India national cricket team.[46]
- Byju's operates roughly on a premium business model where a paid subscription is required for most of the content.[21] In 2017, Byju's generated revenues of about ₹260 crore (US$40 million or €33 million) and doubled it in 2018 financial year, earning ₹520 crore.[5][47][48]
- In June 2020, with the investment of Bond, a global technology investment firm, Byju's became decacorn at US$10.5 billion valuations.[49]
- In November 2020, Byju's became the title sponsor of the Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters FC replacing Muthoot Group.[50]
- In November 2020, Byju’s raised US$200 million in a fresh funding round led by BlackRock and T. Rowe Price at a valuation of $12 billion.[51]
- In March 2021, Byju's secured $460m in a series F funding round.[52]
- In April 2021, B Capital, Baron Funds and XN invested $1 Billion in Byju's.[53]
Controversy
Byju's subsidiary WhiteHat Jr. was asked to remove their five television advertisements by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) due to misleading advertisements.[54] WhiteHat Jr. had created a fictional character named "Wolf Gupta" for its social media advertisements, without disclaiming that he was just a character. They often claimed his age to be between 6–14 years who got job offers worth crores in multiple posters.[55]
Byju's was ordered to pay ₹52,000 as compensation to Dinesh Kumar of Aminjikarai. Byju's' advertisement had promised that classes were scheduled to commence in the first week of December 2020. But, the classes started one month later in January 2021 at Anna Nagar with no infrastructure and no faculty, and the venue was changed thrice.[56]
Awards and nominations
Year | Award or recognition | Type of award | Result/ranking |
---|---|---|---|
2017 | Express IT Awards | Personal | Won[57] |
2017 | Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific | Company | 126[58] |
2016 | Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific | Company | 115[59] |
2015 | Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific | Company | 167[60] |
2014 | Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific | Company | 329[61] |
2017 | Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific | Company | 176[62] |
2012 | Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific | Company | 321[63] |
2016 | Wharton Reimagine Education Overall Ed Tech Award (Best Educational App) | Company | Won[64][65] |
2016 | VCCircle Awards (Education company of the year) | Company | Won[66][21] |
2017 | FT/IFC Transformational Business Awards | Company | Nominated[67] |
2016 | Future of India Awards | Company | Won[68] |
2016 | Global Mobile App Summit & Awards (Education) | Company | Won[69] |
2010 | CNBC TV18 CRISIL Emerging India Award (Education) | Company | Won[21] |
2017 | CNBC TV18 India Business Leader Awards (Young Turk of the Year) | Company | Won[70] |
2018 | Business Standard Annual Awards for Corporate Excellence | Company | Won[71] |
2017 | Amazon Web Services Mobility Awards (Established Education App of the Year) | Company | Won |
2018 | EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Start up) | Personal | Won[72] |
See also
References
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External links
- Indian educational websites
- Educational websites
- Educational technology companies
- Education companies of India
- Indian companies established in 2011
- 2011 establishments in Karnataka
- Online K–12 schools
- Internet properties established in 2011
- Online tutoring
- IOS software
- Virtual learning environments
- Distance education institutions based in India