𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝

Byju Raveendran, an engineer from a small village in Kanpur, landed on the Forbes list of India’s 100 Richest People in less than a decade through his startup, Byju’s. But how did he do it? What was Byju’s timeline? How did this impact the Indian economy? And most importantly: Why is this startup continuously declining? 

• Timeline of India’s most valued startup:

In 2008, Raveendran, a CAT 100 percentiler, started CAT coaching classes. Soon enough, in 2013, he registered it as a company (originally called “Think and Learn”) and raised $9 million. In 2015, he launched the Byju’s learning app and reached out to over 2,000,000 students just within 3 months! After years of signing deals, it is now valued at $23 billion as of July 2022. 

• Tactics adopted by Byju’s:

With the increase in e-commerce in India, Byju’s seized the opportunity and introduced online learning for courses specifically for India (eg: JEE, CAT). Additionally, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this company gained immense popularity for its efforts to save the adversely affected education industry. Not only that, but Byju’s tapped the semi-urban and rural regions of India and expanded there.

Byju’s also used extremely intense advertising plans. They roped in one of the biggest Bollywood stars, Shahrukh Khan. Due to his massive fan base, students became keen on using Byju’s to study. Additionally, when Byju’s introduced their “Early Learn” programme, they tapped in Disney, which helped strengthen their lower-aged customer base.

Another way Byju’s has come into our everyday activities is through the Indian cricket team and their big logo on the jerseys. Through this, they were able to gain the attention of the fan bases of famous cricket stars like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, etc. 

On the same sports lines, Byju’s became the first Indian Edtech to sponsor the FIFA World Cup in 2022, which has yet to take place this year. This attracted a further number of teenagers.

It’s actually quite smart how Byju’s became something most people saw every day, be it through advertisements, television, or just word of mouth. 

• Impact on the Economy:

In 2020, Byju’s launched their “Education for All” initiative that democratised education by fortifying children regardless of their economic backgrounds. They started providing unbiased access to quality learning opportunities, especially during the pandemic. By 2025, Byju’s aims to empower 10 million children from the unreserved category and make it the largest non profit initiative.

This would highly determine the economy of India in the future, considering that even the government defends this online education plan. 

4. Why is this startup continuously declining? 

At the same time, we have to keep an eye on the sustainability of this startup, as losses are mounting and the company has recently been examined by the shareholders. The company mentioned that its losses widened due to the underperformance of WhiteHat Jr. However, Byju’s has taken measures to survive, bearing in mind that it has already dug deep into its “Education for All ” programme and tied up with 128 NGOs in the process.

Additionally, Byju’s posted a whopping loss of Rs. 4500 crore in FY21. The fact that most users feel that Byju’s is “trying to solve problems that don’t exist” is a huge reason for this decline in revenue. The “toxic targets” and “resurrection” of 3000 employees throughout Edtech companies have caused a massive dip in their shares.

However, it’s not just Byjus. Other online learning sites such as Canvas lms, Vedantu, and Toppr are experiencing mounting losses after students resumed going to school and the need to seek help from another “teacher” diminished.

All in all, students no longer perceive a great need to pay for such apps following the launch of new software, namely ChatGPT. Now it’s easier and quicker to get educational help with the click of a button! 

Byju’s overnight success seems to be coming to an end. The worsening of this situation with the recession looming and funds drying up makes it even worse. But who knows, they might have a plan up their sleeves that might save them at the end of the day.

– Amishi Bansal