Bjyu Raveendran Turns a Billionaire After $150 Million Funding Round of BJYU’s
The Bengaluru-based ed-tech firm, BJYU’s has become an eminent brand in the education industry. Last year, the ed-tech company entered the unicorn club and become the first ed-tech startup in the group, as reported by the daily news, The Week.
Lately, the company has raised its bars anew by closing its $150 million round of funding and in turn, increasing its valuation to $5.7 billion. Alongside this, Byju Raveendran, Founder and CEO of BYJU’s, has benefited from the transaction and become one of the new billionaires in the country.
Raveendran, who holds a 21 per cent stake in the ed-tech app, has reached this level of success in ten-years time.
Adding a Creative Approach
Earlier in June, BYJU’s has decided to expand its footprint by joining hands with Walt Disney and following this, initiated an education app named, Early Learn App. By merging with Disney, the ed-tech company tries to entice children between the age group 6 to 8 years and render academic, as well as entertainment opportunities, to them.
BJYU’s new application concentrates on training young minds by offering them online worksheets for practice. Further, the app has several features like games, quizzes, animated videos in which Disney’s renowned characters are featured--Frozen Cars, Lion King, Disney Princess, and Toy Story, to name a few.
“Early Learn App” is one of BJYU’s business strategies to attract the attention of young children. After founding this application, BJYU’s has not rested its mind but instead, is looking for other alternatives for app’s enhancement.
According to the daily news, The Week, BJYU’s is concertedly developing an educational kit through its in-house product development team and its acquired US-based firm, Osmo.
Promoting BJYU’s Business
Recently, OPPO has breached its contract with the Indian cricket team and has said that it would not be sponsoring the Indian team owing to high expenses. In its place, BJYU’s has taken the lead and will be sponsoring the Indian Cricket Team, as reported by the daily news, Money Control.
The move is yet another business strategy of BJYU’s to dive deeper into the Indian market. Prior to establishing BJYU’s, which is operated by Think & Learn Pvt, Raveendran was helping out students to crack examinations as a tutor. In 2011, he began his entrepreneurial journey by introducing the education app.
Expansion Plans
In the previous year, BJYU’s received a gigantic sum from investors which accelerated the business and helped it employ international opportunities. The ed-tech company grabbed $540 million in the round of funding, as reported by the daily news, Tech Crunch.
In the funding round, the Bengaluru-based ed-tech company was able to grab the eyes of prominent investors. Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Tencent, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, General Atlantic, IFC, Lightspeed Ventures and Times Internet were the investors who had partaken in the round.
Following the funding round, BJYU’s valuation increased to $4 billion, which was a sudden leap of almost $800 million, according to the cited media report.
BJYU’s has significantly grown under the leadership of Bjyu Raveendran. The company has led disruption in the education sector by delivering affordable learning programs to students. It is expected that the ed-tech company continues to thrive and evolve the Indian education system as Raveendran’s proclaimed motive.
