The latest investment by General Atlantic in India’s Ed-Tech company, BYJU’S, has taken its valuation to a whopping $3.5 Billion. This has not only made BYJU’S a behemoth in the Indian education sector, but has also made it the biggest Ed-Tech company in the world. So, why has BYJU’S seen such rapid growth in the past few years? Yes, the revenue has been doubling year on year, but there is now a lot of competition in the market. Why is it that BYJU’S is still set to triple its revenue in 2018-19 (At Rs 1500 Cr)? It’s the quality; the time, effort and money spent on the product. Let’s see how they did through the years:
2013-14:
I joined BYJU’S, in 2014. BYJU’S had a small office just in front of the Forum Mall, Koramangala, Bangalore.
- Approx Revenue: Rs 25 Cr.
- Products: CAT, GRE, GMAT and UPSC were the main revenue sources. Towards the end of the fiscal year, they started expanding into K-12 sector with their 11th and 12th class CBSE course.
- Business: Classroom coaching for CAT and UPSC across colleges and cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai. Ventured into the B2C calling model for organic leads. Aarin capital invested.
- Quality: The product was simple writing tablet data on the screen with the presenter in the corner.
- New Technology:
- VSAT Lectures: Streamed across different cities at the same time.
- Writing Tablet: Competitor products typically would just have a video of the teacher writing on a black/green board. The writing tablet gave BYJU’S more avenues and made the lectures more crisp.
2014-15
A few more small offices around were taken.
- Approx Revenue: Rs 50 Cr.
- Products: K-12- Grade 8th-10th Math Product was introduced.
- Business:
- NIE in collaboration with Times of India started- A session by Byju Raveendran in a stadium for 10,000 students at a time across 10 cities. Was the primary lead source.
- B2C Sales targeting the NIE leads along with some online in-organic leads.
- Website had about 5000 views/day.
- Revenue distribution started shifting to K-12.
- Samsung Tab 3 had officially tied up with BYJU’S as their education partner.
- Quality: Green screen was introduced and animation came into play. No competition in the sector.
- New Technology:
- BYJU’S lectures were exclusively given on Samsung Tab 3.
- Security measures were improved.
- Green Screen: Enables to mask out the presenter. You can now put different backgrounds and animate around the presenter. The recordings were done in a small room (or sometimes Byju Raveendran’s house) with a green cloth behind.
2015-16
New office with 300 strength was taken at Sony Signal, Koramangala, Bangalore.
- Approx Revenue: Rs 120 Cr.
- Products: 8-12th Math and Science, CBSE and ICSE.
- Business:
- Sequoia comes on board as investors. Brand Name changed from ‘Byju’s Classes’ to ‘BYJU’S’.
- B2C sales shoot up due to influx of employees.
- BYJU”S The learning app is launched.
- Quality: Animation quality goes up, way beyond the nearest competitor.
- New Technology:
- App: Games were introduced in the app making it much more interactive and immersive.
- Personalisation comes into play.
2016-17:
Head office shifts to IBC Knowledge Park with a 800 capacity.
- Approx Revenue: Rs 225 Cr.
- Products: All products are revamped and improved with additions like Bank PO. Lot of new products are conceptualized.
- Business:
- Facebook comes on as investor.
- Sequoia pumps in more investment along with Sofina.
- App becomes the best education app in India, 5 million downloads.
- Quality: Animation quality has reached industry standards in the media field.
- New Technology: Knowledge graphs come into the system. This enables every student to take different learn journeys. The app understands strengths and weaknesses and can act upon it.
2017-18:
- Approx Revenue: Rs 450 Cr.
- Products: BYJU’S starts working on their International Products. Class 4th-5th Math and Science product out. Commerce out.
- Business:
- Becomes a unicorn with $1 Billion valuation. Turns profitable.
- Investors now include Tencent, Light Speed Venture Partners and Verlinvest.
- Sharukh Khan becomes brand ambassador.
- Quality: Movie like videos. A team of 3D, VFX and SFX exclusively dedicated for this.
- New Technology: 3D animation to help visualise better. Personalised Learn Journeys and the best in class User Experience on the App.
2018-19:
- Approx Revenue: Rs 1500 Cr. (700 done by October)
- Number of people: Total Strength:2000: Media+Content goes up to 700.
- Products: K-3 Scheduled to be out by end of the fiscal year. 6-12th PCMB International starts.
- Business:
- Valuation of $3.5 Billion as General Atlantic comes on board.
- Biggest Ed-Tech company in the world.
- Quality: 3D character animation comes into play with Disney like quality. (Videos cannot be shared yet).
- New Technology: Major acquisitions in terms of different tech for international product (Cannot be declared yet).
BYJU’S is on track for being the biggest Education company in the world in the coming years. Going by what the CEO, Byju Raveendran says, BYJU’S can be the biggest company in the world at the current rate. Fingers crossed!!!
Also read:
FAQs- Job at Think & Learn Pvt. Ltd. (BYJU’S)
Irony of education in India-perceptions!