India has yet another reason to celebrate with the 37-year-old former teacher hailing from a small village in Kerala becoming India’s new billionaire. In a latest development, BYJU’S (Think & Learn Pvt. Ltd.) — the creator of India’s largest K12 learning app offering effective learning programs has hit $6 billion valuation, with its latest funding of $150 million. This makes BYJU’S founder and CEO Byju Raveendran the newest billionaire in the country.
Byju Raveendran bagged the title this month after the seven-year-old company raked in $150 million in its latest funding round. This deal gives him the business valuation of $5.7 billion, thereby sending his own personal wealth over the billion-dollar threshold. More so, Raveendran holds a 21 percent stake in the company that is backed by investors such as Qatar Investment Authority and Tencent.
Byju Raveendran has had humble beginnings and childhood. He is the son of math’s and physics teachers, and grew up in Azhikode village in South India. He became engineer, and while working as an engineer realized his passion for the teaching profession. He discovered his knack for teaching and thereby began helping friends to prepare for engineering and management entrance examinations.
His fame soon spread and he thereby began receiving requests from students to learn his techniques. In 2011, he partnered with Divya Gokulnath, and founded BYJU’S for children between the age of five to 16. This app soon became popular among the kids because it is designed to be creative and is built around interactive videos, games and quizzes. Besides this the platform also helps children with everyday classes and exam preparation.
Raveendran’s BYJU’S currently has over 35 million users in India of which 2.5 million pay an annual fee of $145 to $290. Many children find the app valuable in their lessons which is yet another reason why the app is preferred by the students.
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