Started as a traditional tutorial class, BYJU’S has now become the highest-valued ed-tech startup company not just in India but globally.
From simple tutorials to being the highest-valued ed-tech startup
BYJU’S, commonly known as “The Learning App” was founded by Byju Raveendran. The thought of being the world’s highest-valued ed-tech company didn’t come into Byju’s mind at all. He just had this passion for teaching that even as young as being an eighth-grader he was already tutoring 11th and 12th graders at school.
Raveendran does not have the grandeurs tag of going into IIT or IIM, he went to a Malayalam medium school instead. (Rumors say that he aced IIM entrance test, scoring at a 100 percentile)
As he was practicing his profession as an engineer in a UK-based shipping company, a few friends asked him to tutor them for the entrance exams to the IIMs. Right then and then, his affinity for mathematics and science was rejuvenated.
The power of word of mouth
Raveendran started with small group tutorials, and when talk started to spread about how good and effective his classes were, the number of students started to multiply. From a small group of 35 students, his tutorial classes multiplied and reached 1,200 students in just six sessions.
The audience gets bigger and bigger. I then started to travel into nine different cities weekly. It was a very hectic schedule for me way back then. On Saturday mornings I am in Bengaluru and by the evening I will be in Chennai. Sunday morning is for classes held in Mumbai, and by the evening I am off to Pune. During weekdays I travel into five other cities.
-Byju Raveendran
Day 2 of #tsparks, saw Byju Raveendran in his rapper avatar, with mathematical equations! 😉 https://t.co/ClSiJk3WVX pic.twitter.com/nRFVRqYAx8
— YourStory (@YourStoryCo) September 26, 2017
When Raveendran saw the amplifying potential of his work, imagine from packed classrooms to auditoriums, and then into large indoor stadiums accommodating close to 25,000 live students. The mentor realized that this is indeed a good market to have, so he consulted acquaintances to help him come up with an ed-tech related startup company.
There was no business plan in mind at the start, the intention was just to reach as many interested students as possible. But the ventured eventually found its course and has now led into being the highest-valued ed-tech startup company in India.
The Learning App started from tutorials limited to exam-taking classes into a versatile tutorial app for different age groups and grade levels. It was game-changing for the company to shift from being an exam preparatory tool into a tutorial app for students across age groups.
The Learning App is only one of the few Indian startup companies that made a 100 percent growth for three consecutive years. This highest-valued ed-tech startup also had a massive 200 percent growth to highlight its 2019 campaign.
Image Featured by Dropout Dudes
