Byju's
Byju's was an Indian multinational educational technology company, headquartered in Bengaluru. It was founded in 2011 by Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath. At its peak, it was the world's most valuable edtech startup, with a valuation of $22 billion in 2022. However, by October 2024, multiple media reports indicated that its valuation had effectively dropped to zero. As of April 2023, BYJU'S claimed to have over 150 million registered students.
In 2024, the company faced severe financial and operational challenges due to which it laid off approximately 500 employees, mainly from its sales and marketing departments.
As of 2025, the company is under insolvency proceedings in India.
History
Byju's app was developed by Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd, a company which was established by Byju Raveendran, Divya Gokulnath and a group of students in 2011. Byju, an engineer by profession, was coaching students in mathematics since 2006. During the initial days, the company focused on offering online video-based learning programs for the K-12 segment and for competitive exams. In 2012, the firm entered Deloitte Technology Fast 50 India and Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific ratings and has been present there ever since.In August 2015, the firm launched Byju's: The Learning App. In 2017, they launched Byju's Math App for kids and Byju's Parent Connect app. By 2018, it had 15 million users out of which 900,000 were paid users. In the same year, Byju's became India's first edtech unicorn. By 2019, 60% of Byju's students were from non-metros and rural cities.
In January 2022, the company joined Simplilearn, Unacademy, upGrad, PrepInsta Prime and Vedantu to become one of the founding members of IAMAI's India EdTech Consortium.
In March 2022, it signed a contract with Qatar Investment Authority to establish a new edtech company and an R&D centre in Doha.
In August 2022, Bloomberg News reported that India's Ministry of Corporate Affairs sent a letter to Byju's asking them to explain the non-filing of its audited financials for the year ending March 2021. Byju's reasoned that the 17-month delay was due to the challenge of consolidating the accounts of its acquisitions during that year. In spite of the delay, Deloitte gave the company a clean audit. In November 2022, many employees of Byju's came out to speak against the company's unfair treatment. Reportedly, Byju's fired over five thousand employees. In April 2023, the Enforcement Directorate announced that it had conducted searches at Byju's offices under the Foreign Exchange Management Act and seized "incriminating" documents.
In May 2025, the Byju's Android app was delisted from the Google Play Store due to unpaid AWS bills. The matter had been under mediation since April 2024.
In October 2024, Founder Byju Raveendran publicly stated, "the company is worth zero", referring to the valuation.
According to Forbes’ Billionaire Index 2024, Byju Raveendran's net worth fell from approximately ₹17,545 crore to zero.
Products and services
Byju's was an education tutoring app that ran on a freemium model, with free access to content limited for 15 days after the registration. It was launched in August 2015, offering educational content for students from classes 4 to 12. In 2019, an early learning program started for classes 1 to 3. It also trains students for examinations in India such as IIT-JEE, NEET, CAT, IAS, and international examinations such as GRE and GMAT.Academic subjects and concepts are explained with 12–20 minute digital animation videos through which students learn in a self-paced mode. Byju's reports to have 40 million users overall, 3 million annual paid subscribers and an annual retention rate of about 85%. In October 2018, the app expanded to the United Kingdom, United States and other English-speaking countries.
In 2019, the company announced that it would launch its app in regional Indian languages. It also planned to launch an international version of the app for English-speaking students in other countries. And to cater students of kindergarten, Byju's launched new programs in its Early Learn App.
In April 2021, the company also announced the launch of "Byju's Future School" to be led by WhiteHat Jr Founder Karan Bajaj. The Future School aims to cross the bridge from passive to active learning with an interactive learning platform blended with coding and other subjects like Math, Science, English, Music and Fine arts through storytelling. Byju's planned to launch the Future School in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico in May of that year. Karan Bajaj quit WhiteHat Jr a year after the acquisition.
The company is focusing on adopting a hybrid model of teaching and learning by launching 500 tuition centers across 200 cities in India. As of February 2022, 80 centers are already launched.
Acquisitions
In July 2017, Think and Learn acquired TutorVista from Pearson.In January 2019, Byju's acquired American-based Osmo, a maker of educational games for children aged 3–8 years for.
In July 2020, Byju's also acquired Indian startup WhiteHat Jr for.
In September 2020, Byju's acquires virtual labs simulation startup LabInApp.
In February 2021, Byju's acquires Mumbai-based doubt clearing platform Scholr.
In April 2021, Byju's acquired test prep firm Aakash Educational Services Ltd. in an estimated cash and stock deal. Aakash's founders and Blackstone Group will receive minority stakes in Byju's as part of the deal.
In July 2021, Byju's acquired American-based kids learning platform Epic! in a cash-and-stock deal. The Epic acquisition was part of Byju's foray into the overseas market, from where it expects annual revenue of per financial year.
In July 2021, Byju's acquired Singapore-based higher education platform Great Learning at a cost of and after-school learning app Toppr.
In September 2021, Byju's acquired two startups including online test preparation platform Gradeup for an undisclosed price and rebranded it to BYJU’S Exam Prep and American based coding platform Tynker for.
In December 2021, Byju's acquired GeoGebra in a cash-and-stock deal.
In February 2022, Byju's-owned upskilling platform Great Learning acquires Bengaluru-based campus recruitment platform Superset.
To date, Byju's spent at least $2.8 billion on a dozen acquisitions to expand beyond the original learning app and bring together its services that will allow it to reach learners of all ages. For example, it has ventured into exam preparation, higher education MOOCs, and tuition centers. In addition, it has acquired several additional platforms that offer virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and educational gaming services, most of which occurred in 2021.
Financials
Byju's received seed funding from Aarin Capital in 2013. As of 2019, Byju's had secured nearly $785 million in funding from investors, including Sequoia Capital India, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Tencent, Sofina, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Qatar Investment Authority, Verlinvest, IFC, Naspers Ventures, CPPIB and General Atlantic. Byju's was the first company in Asia to receive an investment from Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative. As per the company filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Byju's became a unicorn and was valued at ₹6,505 crore as of March 2018. In June 2020, Byju's attained the decacorn status with an investment by Mary Meeker's Bond Capital. In March 2022 Byju's raised $800 million, reaching a valuation of $22 billion.In September 2020, Byju's replaced Oppo as the title sponsor of the India national cricket team. Byju's operates roughly on a premium business model where a paid subscription is required for most of the content. In 2017, Byju's generated revenues of about ₹260 crore and doubled it in 2018 financial year, earning ₹520 crore. In June 2020, with the investment of Bond, a global technology investment firm, Byju's was regarded as a decacorn with a US$10.5 billion valuation.
In November 2020, Byju's became the title sponsor of the Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters FC replacing Muthoot Group. In November 2020, Byju's raised US$200 million in a fresh funding round led by BlackRock and T. Rowe Price at a valuation of $12 billion. In March 2021, Byju's secured $460m in a series F funding round. In April 2021, B Capital, Baron Funds, and XN invested $1 billion in Byju's. In June 2021, Byju's raised $50 million in a Series F round from IIFL's private equity fund and Maitri Edtech. In October 2021, Byju's raised $296 million as a part of its Series F round from Oxshott Venture Fund, Edelweiss Group, Verition Fund Management, XN Exponent Holdings, and MarketX Ventures. In March 2022, the company raised $800 million from Byju Raveendran, Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, and BlackRock.
In March 2022, Byju's was named as one of the official sponsors of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
In 2022 Byjus laid off nearly 4000 people from its team amid funding crunch and road to profitability.
Byju's was experiencing a severe funding crunch as of December 2023. The business was at odds with US lenders over unpaid interest on a $1.2 billion term loan. Byju's listed two important assets for sale in an effort to raise between $800 million and $1 billion to help with its financial difficulties.
Byju's laid off almost 4,000 employees in 2022 as a result of a lack of funding, hoping to shift toward profitability. In addition, the business is dealing with litigation and grievances regarding its products, services, and business practices from clients, employees, and competitors.
Byju Raveendran, the company's founder and group CEO, stated in November 2023 that the business will keep growing profitably and sustainably in the upcoming years.
On 25 January 2024, lenders began bankruptcy proceedings against Byju's in an effort to repay its loans. On 1 February 2024, Byju's U.S. division filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware. Byju's would raise around $200 million in an effort to clear "immediate liabilities" and for other operational costs at a post-money valuation of $225 million.
On 22 May 2024, a US bankruptcy court penalized Byju's director Riju Ravindran for contempt of court for refusing to disclose the location of $533 million in loan proceeds. The court also prohibited further transfers of these funds and found co-founders Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath complicit. This decision followed a year-long legal battle between Byju's parent company, Think & Learn, and its bondholders.
On 1 August 2024, Byju's director Riju Ravindran was ordered by a US bankruptcy judge to pay $10,000 a day until he helped locate the $533 million the company was accused of hiding from its U.S. lenders.
In July 2024, the National Company Law Tribunal appointed an Insolvency Resolution Professional to oversee Byju's day-to-day affairs. This came after BCCI sought initiation of the insolvency proceedings against Byju's over unpaid dues of Rs.158 crore. The order was later quashed by NCLAT Chennai after the two parties agreed to a settlement.
On October 23, 2023, the Supreme Court of India set aside an NCLAT judgment that had closed insolvency proceedings against Byju's parent company, Think & Learn. The case was initiated by US-based creditor Glas Trust over a ₹158 crore debt. The Court ruled that proper procedures were not followed by NCLAT and directed that funds in escrow be moved to the Committee of Creditors.
| Year | Revenue | Profits/Loss |
| FY 2018 | 490 | |
| FY 2019 | 1,376 | |
| FY 2020 | 2,381 | |
| FY 2021 | 2,280 | |
| FY 2022 | 5,298 |