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The Unusual Case of BYJU’s : Creating One of the World’s Most Valued Educational Technology Companies from India


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1 Assistant Professor, St. Joseph’s Institute of Management, No. 28/1 Primrose Road, Bengaluru - 560 025, Karnataka, India
     

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Byju Raveendran started taking classes for CAT aspirants in 2003. What started as a coaching class grew in size and scale, and BYJU’s became one of the world’s most valued educational technology companies built from scratch in India. Once the number of students started growing, the company faced issues in scaling up. A chance encounter with friends planted the seeds of starting a business; another unexpected meeting with an investor helped the company pivot its offerings. Backed with funding from a list of top global investors and at very high valuations, BYJU’s story is an unusual one in the Indian context. The case discusses the critical elements of the journey, including the role of the student team that built the business, the product development process, the sales challenges, marketing efforts, and key acquisitions that helped drive growth.

Keywords

Education Technology, BYJU’s, Online Education In India, Global Indian Brand, Sales Driven Growth, App-Based Learning, Scaling Up Businesses, Entrepreneurship.

Paper Submission Date : June 5, 2021 ; Paper Sent Back for Revision : January 20, 2022 ; Paper Acceptance Date : February 15, 2022 ; Paper Published Online : April 15, 2022.

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  • The Unusual Case of BYJU’s : Creating One of the World’s Most Valued Educational Technology Companies from India

Abstract Views: 204  |  PDF Views: 2

Authors

Thomason Rajan
Assistant Professor, St. Joseph’s Institute of Management, No. 28/1 Primrose Road, Bengaluru - 560 025, Karnataka, India

Abstract


Byju Raveendran started taking classes for CAT aspirants in 2003. What started as a coaching class grew in size and scale, and BYJU’s became one of the world’s most valued educational technology companies built from scratch in India. Once the number of students started growing, the company faced issues in scaling up. A chance encounter with friends planted the seeds of starting a business; another unexpected meeting with an investor helped the company pivot its offerings. Backed with funding from a list of top global investors and at very high valuations, BYJU’s story is an unusual one in the Indian context. The case discusses the critical elements of the journey, including the role of the student team that built the business, the product development process, the sales challenges, marketing efforts, and key acquisitions that helped drive growth.

Keywords


Education Technology, BYJU’s, Online Education In India, Global Indian Brand, Sales Driven Growth, App-Based Learning, Scaling Up Businesses, Entrepreneurship.

Paper Submission Date : June 5, 2021 ; Paper Sent Back for Revision : January 20, 2022 ; Paper Acceptance Date : February 15, 2022 ; Paper Published Online : April 15, 2022.


References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.17010/ijom%2F2022%2Fv52%2Fi4%2F163181