BYJU RAVINDRAN
Byju Ravindran was born in Azhikode village of Kerala. He
studied at a Malayalam medium school where his parents were teachers.
The accidental entrepreneur in the
educational technology (edutech) sector realized where his calling lay when he
was able to help his friends crack the CAT entrance exam for admission to
management programme.
For a lark, he also appeared for the
test twice and scored in the 100th percentile. He worked as a
service engineer with a multinational company, before starting Byju’s classes
for CAT in 2007. It helped CAT aspirants crack the exam by making them
understand the concepts behind the questions. In 2011, he co-founded the online
edutech company ‘Byju’s’ with his wife Divya Gokulnath.
In 2015, as the screen size of
smartphones increased, Byju launched an app which students could easily access
on their handheld devices, for the purpose of learning. By October 2018, “BYJU’s
– The Learning App” was being used by students in the UK, the US and other
English-speaking countries.
The test prep business that Byju
founded in 2007 has now emerged as a giant in the Indian education technology
space. It teaches maths and science concepts to kids from classes IV to XII and
offers preparation for several entrance exams.
Byju, who often skipped classes when
he was in school, had to catch up with his studies on his own. This was when he
first began to develop the learning methods that he now imparts to the 1.6 lakh
students who are paid subscribers on the Byju’s network, as well to those who have
downloaded his free app. It has also enabled students to take on the primary
responsibility for their learning.
