Byju Raveendran | |
|---|---|
 Byju Raveendran in 2017 | |
| Born | 5 January 1980 |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Education | B-Tech |
| Alma mater | Government College of Engineering, Kannur |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Title | Founder & CEO of Byju's |
| Spouse | Divya Gokulnath |
Byju Raveendran (born 5 January 1980) [1] is an Indian entrepreneur, investor and educator who, with his wife Divya Gokulnath, co-founded Byju's.
Byju was born on 5 January 1980 in the Azhikode [1] [2] village of Kerala, India to Raveendran and Shobhanavalli, physics and mathematics teachers, respectively. [3] [4] He studied at a Malayalam medium school where his mother was a mathematics teacher and his father a physics teacher. [5] [6] He would skip classes and then learn at home. [7] [8]
After completing his B.Tech from the Government College of Engineering, Kannur, he joined a multinational shipping company as a service engineer. [3] During a vacation in 2003, he helped his friends who were studying for the CAT exam. [6] He then took the CAT exam and scored in the 99th percentile. [6] When he took the exam again, he again scored in the 99th percentile. [9] Two years later, he continued helping people study for the CAT exam and, based on the good results, decided to quit his job. [6]
In 2007, Byju founded the test preparation business Byju's Classes, [6] and the company grew to stadium-size classes. [10] In 2011, he founded Byju's with his wife, Divya Gokulnath, [5] whom he met while she was a student in his exam preparation class. [11] [12]
In 2015, as smartphone screen sizes increased, Byju's launched an app developed by Byju for students to learn on handheld devices. [13] [6] [14] [15] In October 2018, the app expanded to the United Kingdom, the United States and other English-speaking countries. [16] By July 2022, the app had been downloaded more than 150 million times, and on average, its users spent 71 minutes on the app every day. [17]
In 2021, Byju was heading advanced talks to acquire Vedantu for around $600-$700 million, but the deal didn't get through due to pending regulatory approvals. [18]
According to Forbes , as of 2020, Byju, his wife Divya Gokulnath, and his brother Riju Raveendran have a combined net worth of $3.4 billion. [19] In January 2021, he was added to the National Startup Advisory Council as a non-official member. [20] In April 2021, Byju's purchased the Indian test-prep provider Aakash Educational Services Ltd. for nearly US$ 1 billion. [21] [22]
In July 2022, Byju invested $400 million in BYJU'S during a venture capital financing round. [23]
On 1 February 2024, multiple shareholders were reported to have signed a notice calling for a general meeting to address various issues at BYJU'S, including requests to change the company's board of directors and leadership. [24] In February 2024, India's economic intelligence and law enforcement entity Enforcement Directorate issued a look out notice against Raveendran. [25] On 23 February, shareholders voted to remove Byju as CEO, and he stated afterwards that the vote was invalid due to a lack of a quorum. [26] A previous court ruling placed the implementation of the shareholder vote on hold until after further review on 13 March 2024. [26] [27]
In August 2025, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), through its subsidiary Qatar Holding LLC, filed an enforcement petition before the Karnataka High Court seeking recognition of a $235 million arbitral award against Raveendran and his investment vehicle Byju's Investments Pte. Ltd. (BIPL). According to QIA, the dispute originated in September 2022 when Qatar Holding extended $150 million in financing to BIPL, with the loan personally guaranteed by Raveendran. The funds were used to partially finance the acquisition of shares in Aakash Educational Services Ltd. Following what QIA described as contractual defaults, arbitration proceedings were initiated in Singapore in March 2024. The tribunal ultimately issued a final award in July 2025 ordering repayment of $235 million with interest. QIA stated that it sought enforcement of the award in India through the Karnataka High Court on 12 August 2025, requesting recognition of the award as a court decree and injunctions against the transfer of assets. [28]
Byju married Divya Gokulnath, one of his early students, in 2009. Together they have two sons. [29]
| Year | Title | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | The Indian Express IT Awards | [30] |
| 2019 | Manorama News Newsmaker award | [31] |
| 2020 | Ernst & Young Finalist, Entrepreneur of the Year, India and Winner, Business Transformation Award | [32] [33] |
| 2020 | Fortune Magazine's '40 Under 40' list | [34] |
| 2021 | Forbes India Leadership Award (FILA) Entrepreneur for the Year | [35] |
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