Byju Raveendran, founder of edtech startup BYJU's, has been a championing force for personalized... [+] learning in India (photo courtesy of BYJU's). India is currently the fastest growing major economy in the world, and that’s a title that doesn’t come without its own set of challenges. Depending on who you ask, it’s often argued that India’s number one challenge moving forward is the need to transform its current one-size-fits-all approach to educating its billion-plus population. One person who might agree with this approach is educational entrepreneur Byju Raveendran, founder of edtech startup BYJU’s. BYJU’s has been a championing force for personalized learning in India since launching last year. BYJU’s is an app aimed at students in grades 4-12 learn subjects like math, physics, or biology independently. At present, it’s been downloaded more than 5.5 million times. With over 250,000 subscribers paying an annual subscription of $150, the app offers original content, watch-and-learn videos, animations and interactive simulations. “No rote learning,” says Raveendran, adding that some of the content is offered free. “Students are spending 40 minutes per session per day on the app, without anyone forcing them to do it," says Raveendran. “This is a validation of its effectiveness.” Some more validation exists with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), the philanthropic arm created by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, which invested a whopping $50 million in BYJU’s, along with Sequoia, Sofina, LightSpeed Ventures and Times Internet, in September. This is the first Asian investment from CZI. In his Facebook post, Zuckerberg cited a survey which claims that almost 80% of parents said the app has improved their children's learning dramatically. Taking Zuckerberg's confidence in stride, Raveendran says, “To be backed by CZI is very encouraging. The infusion of funds will help us grow, develop our products and boost our aim to revolutionize learning across the world.” Perhaps it’s because Zuckerberg isn’t the first to see the potential that has Raveendran so relaxed. Last March, BYJU’s raised $75 million from Sequoia India and Sofina. The Indian tech scene has been dominated by e-commerce, but over the past few years a growing contingent of entrepreneurs are shifting their attention to edtech. According to VCCEdge, a research platform for the Indian investment ecosystem, angel, private equity and venture capital deals in the education sector rose from 27 (valued at $187 million) in 2010 to 49 ($248 million) in 2014. In 2015, there were 51 deals valued at $155 million. And with over 260 million enrolments in K-12 and 12 million job seekers who need critical working skills every year, the need for quality education in India is palpable. The Indian edtech market is expected to hit $2.5 billion this year and is poised to grow at 15% over the next three years, according to RedSeer Consulting, a research and advisory firm. “While India has been big on traditional schooling and learning techniques, technology and data science has just about made its mark in personalizing learning,” says Raveendran, who started with teaching college graduates for rigorous entrance tests for management, engineering and medical schools in classrooms in 2012. He launched his digital platform in 2015. “More than 90% of our business is coming through the app,” he says, adding that the app was launched following four years of development by its 500-strong R&D team. Unsurprisingly, Raveendran’s love of learning came from his upbringing. He went to a non-English school, where both his parents were teachers, in a small coastal village called Azhikode in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Although he excelled in academics and later became an engineer, Raveendran’s first-hand experience of the drawbacks of the education system helped him to come up with solutions to a problem he knew existed. According to him, too much emphasis on test-based teaching and learning often encourages students to simply memorize information. “In India, children are still getting trained to solve questions and not ask questions. Learning driven by fear of exams has been the main reason why India consistently ranks low in global education,” laments Raveendran. The statistics are disheartening. A recently released UNESCO report says that many global education challenges such as universal primary and secondary education still remain unmet in India. According to the report, over 60 million children in India receive little or no formal education and the country has over 11.1 million out-of-school students in the lower secondary level. Given the poor state of available facilities, it was important, Raveendran says, to find new ways to connect with students. “The best thing about edtech is that you get a chance to empower millions of students irrespective of their proficiency levels or geographic locations.” Still a young edtech startup, BYJU’s is already profitable in India with a month-on-month growth of 15%. For now, BYJU’s only creates content in English for Indians, but Raveendran has ambitious plans for the future. He wants to expand to English-speaking markets around the world. “Currently, we are in India and in the Middle East. With the recent round of funding from CZI and a few other investors, we see a potential for our product globally. In the next two years, we will create better and interesting learning products which help students to become lifelong learners,” he claims.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has invested $50m in Indian education technology start-up BYJU after announcements that close to 80% of parents have claimed that the app has significantly improved their children’s learning. The Indian edtech market is expected to be valued at $2.5bn with an annual growth rate of 15% over the coming years.