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Byju Raveendran
Byju Raveendran in 2017
Born	(1980-01-05) 5 January 1980 (age 44) Azhikode, Kannur, Kerala, India
Nationality	Indian
Education	B-Tech
Alma mater	Government College of Engineering, Kannur
Occupation	Entrepreneur
Title	Founder & CEO of Byju's
Spouse	Divya Gokulnath

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 in 5th 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 100th percentile. When he took the exam again, he again scored in the 100th 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 US$1 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

1. ^ "Byju Raveendran". The Economic Times. 15 February 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
2. "Byju's education app: A CAT topper who didn't fancy IIMs is making self-learning cool among Indian students — Quartz India". qz.com. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
3. ^ "ബൈജൂസ് ആപ്പിന്റെ കഥ; ബൈജു രവീന്ദ്രന്റെയും". Mathrubhumi.
4. "WHO IS BYJU RAVEENDRAN". Business Standard India. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
5. ^ Gilchrist, Karen (30 July 2019). "India crowns its newest billionaire, a 37-year-old former teacher". CNBC. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
6. ^ Krishna, Niharika (11 July 2016). "Teacher, entrepreneur: The success story of Byju Raveendran". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
7. Rai, Saritha (29 July 2019). "Byju Raveendran, a former school teacher, joins Indian billionaires' club". LiveMint. Bloomberg. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
8. India TV News Desk (30 July 2019). "Reluctant student-turned teacher, meet Byju Raveendran - India's newest billionaire". India TV. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
9. TNM Staff (29 July 2019). "Kerala-born former teacher Byju Raveendran is India's newest billionaire". The News Minute. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
10. Banerjee, Sreya (31 July 2019). "Teacher turned app maker Byju Raveendran is India's newest billionaire". ABC News. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
11. Ghosh, Debojyoti (21 November 2020). "Byju's better half". Fortune India. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
12. ET Now Digital (10 October 2020). "With a wealth of over Rs 11,300 crore, meet India's youngest billionaire". TimesNowNews. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
13. FP Staff (29 July 2019). "Byju's founder, Raveendran polevaults into billionaire club with latest funding of $150 mn". FirstPost. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
14. Rai, Saritha (3 December 2020). "Byju Raveendran, the A Student in Online Ed". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
15. Shah, Vrutika (12 February 2020). "5 youngest billionaires of India and how they make their money". GQ India. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
16. "India's Game-Changers - Byju Raveendran". BBC World News. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
17. "Byju's said to be in talks with lenders for $1 billion funding". The Economic Times. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
18. "Byju's to acquire e-learning platform Vedantu for $600-$700 mn". The Times of India. IANS. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
19. "Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath". Forbes. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
20. "Byju Raveendran, Kunal Bahl named to startup advisory panel". The Siasat Daily. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
21. Singh, Manish (5 April 2021). "Byju's acquires Indian tutor Aakash for nearly $1 billion". Techcrunch. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
22. Bhalla, Tarush (5 April 2021). "Aakash joins Byju's universe in a deal worth nearly $1 billion". Mint. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
23. "Byju's Struggles to Close $800 Million Funding as Investors Balk". Bloomberg.com. 11 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
24. Shah, Ranjani Raghavan,Sneha (1 February 2024). "Shareholders ask Byju Raveendran to step down". mint. Retrieved 1 February 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
25. Bureau, The Hindu (22 February 2024). "ED issues fresh look-out notice against Byju Raveendran". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 23 February 2024. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
26. ^ Pandya, Dhwani; Sriram, M. (23 February 2024). "Indian startup Byju's calls shareholder move to oust CEO invalid". Retrieved 24 February 2024.
27. "India court says Byju's shareholder decisions will not apply before March 13". Reuters. 21 February 2024. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
28. "Byju's better half". www.fortuneindia.com. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
29. "Express IT Awards: Byju Raveendran, a teacher who is the pupils' pet". The Financial Express. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
30. Staff (7 December 2020). "Byju Raveendran dedicates Manorama News Newsmaker Award to COVID warriors, teachers". Onmanorama. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
31. "Byju Raveendran". EY. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
32. Dave, Sachin (25 March 2021). "Harsh Mariwala wins EY Entrepreneur of the year 2020 award". Economic Times. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
33. "Byju Raveendran | 2020 40 under 40 in Tech". Fortune. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
34. Bathija, Monica (18 March 2021). "FILA 2021 Entrepreneur for the Year: Byju Raveendran's global ambitions". Forbes India. Retrieved 26 March 2021.

• Indian company founders
• Living people
• Indian billionaires
• People from Kannur district
• Businesspeople from Kannur
• Byju's
• 1980 births