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Byju Raveendran

About Byju Raveendran

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Who is Byju Raveendran

Byju Raveendran is the founder of edutech start-up Byju's. Son of physics and mathematics teachers from Azhikode village in Kannur district of Kerala, Raveendran is a former teacher who turned an entrepreneur. An engineering graduate, he started teaching maths to friends (and whoever else wanted to learn) after spending a couple of years at a shipping company. He would help students prepare for entrance exams like the common entrance exam (CAT). In 2003, he appeared for CAT himself and scored 100%, despite not studying enough for the exam. Two years later, he helped some others crack CAT and then decided to take up teaching as a full-time job. Raveendran went from teaching a few friends, to teaching hundreds of students in large auditoriums, and taking classes through satellite communication. He set up Think & Learn in 2011, to offer online lessons, before launching his main app in 2015. In 2018, Byju Raveendran won the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Startup category).
 
Raveendran’s start-up Byju’s runs on a freemium model and trains students for Indian examinations like IIT-JEE, NEET, CAT and IAS, as well as international ones such as GRE and GMAT. In July, 2019 Byju's acquired Indian cricket team jersey rights.
 
Today, Byju's has grown into the world's most successful edutech start-ups with 33 million users and 2.2 million paid subscribers. According to data available as on July 2019, its valuation has quadrupled in the past year. That also makes it one of the top five most-valuable internet companies in the country. The present value of this unicorn company is $3.6 billion.
 
The Byju's app has become a business case at Harvard Business School. It has received several awards, including the Business Standard Annual Award for Corporate Excellence (2018).

Latest Updates on Byju Raveendran

NCLT admits insolvency plea against Byju's, rejects firm's arbitration plea

Edtech company put under moratorium after tribunal finds it defaulted on due owned to BCCI

Updated On: 16 Jul 2024 | 4:16 PM IST

TEST: Govt orders inspection of Byju's account books following turmoil

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has sought a report in six weeks, said the people, asking not to be named as the information isn't public

Updated On: 11 Jul 2023 | 3:43 PM IST

TEST:Edtech major Byju's lenders scrap talks to restructure a $1.2 bn loan

Byju's has to make an interest payment on the loan by June 5

Updated On: 01 Jun 2023 | 4:07 PM IST

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TMS Ep4233: Byju's troubles, JioCinema, sugar stocks, Ludhiana gas leak

s it the end of the road for Byju's? Is JioCinema the new star of OTT? Is there more sweetness left in sugar stocks? What caused the Ludhiana gas leak tragedy? Answers here

Updated On: 04 May 2023 | 4:57 PM IST

Byju's lenders ready for loan restructuring but want $200 mn prepayment

Byju's has volunteered to raise the interest rate for the loan by about 200 basis points (bps), but it has not agreed to the prepayment clause so far

Updated On: 07 Apr 2023 | 2:45 PM IST

No plans to shut down WhiteHat Jr, merely optimising it: Byju's

Last year, Byju's laid off about 600 employees at its group companies - WhiteHat Jr and Toppr

Updated On: 23 Feb 2023 | 11:49 PM IST

Byju's seeks more time from lenders to renegotiate $1.2 billion debt

Byju's is scrambling to appease creditors and investors already concerned about mounting losses at the once high-flying startup

Updated On: 10 Jan 2023 | 1:42 PM IST

Byju's founder raising funds to buy back as much as 15% of firm: Report

Raveendran is in the midst of overhauling the company's strategy and cutting marketing spend with a goal to be profitable by March

Updated On: 04 Jan 2023 | 8:26 PM IST

After many rocking years, we needed a rocky year: Byju's CEO Raveendran

Raveendran acknowledged that the first six years of Byju's were those of steady growth and the next four -- from 2017 to 2021 -- saw the company's exponential rise

Updated On: 30 Dec 2022 | 10:17 PM IST

No question of mis-selling, sales team doesn't have rights: Byju's to NCPCR

Says that by design, every sale is unapproved until it is verified by a triple-layered audit mechanism that reaches out to the interested customer through SMS, audio and video calls

Updated On: 23 Dec 2022 | 10:09 PM IST

Byju's to undertake affordability test of parents before selling courses

The child rights organisation will meet with Byju's officials again on Monday for additional information and documents from the company

Updated On: 23 Dec 2022 | 6:36 PM IST

Byju's denies buying student databases after NCPCR Chief's allegation

Edtech major Byju's strongly denied reports by NCPCR that the company is allegedly buying phone numbers of children and their parents and threatening them to buy its courses

Updated On: 21 Dec 2022 | 11:25 PM IST

Byju's allegedly buying contacts of children, threatening parents: NCPCR

The child panel took action based on a news report that the company's sales team was engaging in dishonest behaviour to persuade parents to purchase their courses for their kids

Updated On: 20 Dec 2022 | 10:27 PM IST

NCPCR summons BYJU's CEO Raveendran over allegation of malpractice

Apex child rights body NCPCR has summoned edtech BYJU's CEO over allegations that it is indulging in malpractices to lure parents and children to buy their courses

Updated On: 16 Dec 2022 | 11:00 PM IST

Will look into financial disclosures of Byju's, says ICAI president

Move comes in backdrop of Congress MP Karti Chidambaram's letter airing concerns over results

Updated On: 17 Nov 2022 | 8:27 PM IST

Brand ambassadors: An illusory fascination

Byju's appointment of Messi is a good example of the illusory fascination that companies harbour for celebrity endorsements

Updated On: 09 Nov 2022 | 9:50 PM IST

Byju's Aakash Educational Services IPO valuation likely to hit $4 billion

May pick the lead bank in 2 weeks and DRHP expected in Jan-Feb

Updated On: 04 Nov 2022 | 12:03 AM IST

Byju's decides not to shut its Kerala centre after founder meets CM

Byju Raveendran reiterates his commitment to the state, says company spokesperson

Updated On: 02 Nov 2022 | 10:49 PM IST

Overall job cuts no more than 5% to avoid role duplication: Byju Raveendran

"I want to emphasise that the overall job cuts are not more than five per cent of our total strength," he said

Updated On: 31 Oct 2022 | 6:23 PM IST

Truly sorry to those who'll have to leave Byju's, says Raveendran to staff

The edtech giant has to sever 2,500 employees to avoid role duplication across businesses, says founder in a letter to employees

Updated On: 31 Oct 2022 | 6:22 PM IST