Byju Raveendran

Byju Raveendran (born 5 January 1980) is an Indian entrepreneur, investor and educator who, with his wife Divya Gokulnath, co-founded Byju's.

Early life and education

Byju was born on 5 January 1980 in the Azhikode village of Kerala, India to Raveendran and Shobhanavalli, physics and mathematics teachers, respectively. He studied at a Malayalam medium school where his mother was a mathematics teacher and his father a physics teacher. He would skip classes and then learn at home.

Career

After completing his B.Tech from the Government College of Engineering, Kannur, he joined a multinational shipping company as a service engineer. During a vacation in 2003, he helped his friends who were studying for the CAT exam. He then took the CAT exam and scored in the 99th percentile. When he took the exam again, he again scored in the 99th percentile. Two years later, he continued helping people study for the CAT exam and, based on the good results, decided to quit his job.

In 2007, Byju founded the test preparation business Byju's Classes, and the company grew to stadium-size classes. In 2011, he founded Byju's with his wife, Divya Gokulnath, whom he met while she was a student in his exam preparation class.

In 2015, as smartphone screen sizes increased, Byju's launched an app developed by Byju for students to learn on handheld devices. In October 2018, the app expanded to the United Kingdom, the United States and other English-speaking countries. By July 2022, the app had been downloaded more than 150 million times, and on average, its users spent 71 minutes on the app every day.

In 2021, Byju was heading advanced talks to acquire Vedantu for around $600-$700 million, but the deal didn't get through due to pending regulatory approvals.

According to ''Forbes'', as of 2020, Byju, his wife Divya Gokulnath, and his brother Riju Raveendran have a combined net worth of $3.4 billion. In January 2021, he was added to the National Startup Advisory Council as a non-official member. In April 2021, Byju's purchased the Indian test-prep provider Aakash Educational Services Ltd. for nearly billion.

In July 2022, Byju invested $400 million in BYJU'S during a venture capital financing round.

On 1 February 2024, multiple shareholders were reported to have signed a notice calling for a general meeting to address various issues at BYJU'S, including requests to change the company's board of directors and leadership. In February 2024, India's economic intelligence and law enforcement entity Enforcement Directorate issued a look out notice against Raveendran. On 23 February, shareholders voted to remove Byju as CEO, and he stated afterwards that the vote was invalid due to a lack of a quorum. A previous court ruling placed the implementation of the shareholder vote on hold until after further review on 13 March 2024.

Controversies

Byju Raveendran’s once-thriving ed-tech empire has faced a series of significant challenges that have threatened its future. Financial struggles, including a sharp decline in valuation to below $1 billion, investor backlash, and mounting regulatory issues, have put the company in a precarious position. Legal scrutiny, particularly around its financial practices, further compounded the situation. Internally, Byju’s was rocked by high-profile resignations, layoffs, and a noticeable decline in employee morale, signaling deeper issues with leadership and company culture. These setbacks, alongside growing internal discord and a loss of investor confidence, have raised doubts about the company’s ability to recover and regain its former dominance in the ed-tech space.

Personal life

Byju married Divya Gokulnath, one of his early students, in 2009. Together they have two sons.

Awards and recognition

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raveendran, Byju
Indian company founders
Living people
Indian billionaires
People from Kannur district
Businesspeople from Kannur
Byju's
1980 births