Byju Raveendran tells ANCHAl SHARMA how his various app-based learning programmes inculcate love for studies through the use of technology among students
Tell us about your journey. How did you start BYJU’sIJ
After my graduation, I started working as an engineer. During one of my work breaks, I ended up sitting for the CAT exam. I was surprised that I scored 100 percentile, without actually having prepared thoroughly at all. To test myself and the way I learned, I sat for it again and repeated the score. After this, my friends actually encouraged me to teach and prepare them for the exam. Slowly, my friends started getting more friends — who brought in more friends and before I knew, my workshops with 35-40 students went up to 1000-plus students packed in auditoriums. Eventually, I quit my job and took up teaching full-time, even travelled to other cities to reach as many students as possible.
What is the main idea behind itIJ
Overall, the main idea behind starting BYJU’s was to make learning accessible, effective, engaging and personalized for everyone. We noticed that there was a huge gap in the way students learn and how it can be actually learnt. Especially amongst students, memory-based learning has been mostly driven by fear of exams rather than the love for learning. We wanted to inculcate love for their studies through the use of technology.
What is the enrollment procedureIJ
We follow a freemium business model whereby students get access to the content for free about 15 days, post which they can subscribe for advanced levels. We encourage students can download and try the app first and then decide if they would like to subscribe to the lessons for an annual subscription fee.
How does it workIJ
It is a learning app is India’s largest K-12 app which is reinventing how students learn in the age of mobile devices. Our learning approach combines world-class teachers, proven pedagogical methods, innovative technology and data science to deliver personalised learning, feedback and assessment for students in Classes IV to XII.
Tell us about the courses on offerIJ
We have a whole range of app based learning programmes for Classes IV to XII (Math, Physics, Biology and Chemistry) and test prep programmes for JEE,NEET, CAT, IAS, GRE and GMAT.
What is your USPIJ
It is India’s largest ed-tech company and the creator of India’s largest K12 learning app. Our aim is make students fall in love with learning. The key differentiator is in how we personalize learning based on size and style of learning of every student. The app merges videos, interactives and teachers to bring concepts to life.
Our core strength lies in creating high quality learning modules, videos and interactives across grades. The success of the app has made us realise the rewards of investing in high quality products. Today, with a wider bandwidth, we want to create similar products for the international markets, especially the English-speaking markets. We see a potential for our product globally as so far we haven’t seen such a product available in the global market which can reach out to such a large number of students and create great engagement at the same time.
Tell us about your team.
The team has just one addiction — to get students addicted to learning. The same passion can be seen across teams. It is unified by a single mission-to create an impact through better learning. The fact that a good number of them have been Byju’s students at some point of time creates a strong bonding.
What nextIJ
Our app has seen great adoption in the last one year. We have successfully forayed beyond the metros in the country and helped India learn better. The product has seen huge traction and adoption in India and Middle East.
With the recent round of funding from Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative and few other investors, our focus is to create similar products for the international markets. We want to capitalise on our core strengths that we have developed in the last four years.