Divya Gokulnath | |
|---|---|
 Divya Gokulnath in 2022 | |
| Born | 1987 (age 37–38) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Alma mater | R.V. College of Engineering |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Title | Director and co-founder of Byju's |
| Spouse | Byju Raveendran |
| Children | 2 |
Divya Gokulnath (born 1987) is an Indian entrepreneur and educator who is the co-founder and director of Byju's, an educational technology company founded in 2011 in Bangalore, India. [1] [2]
Divya was born and raised in Bengaluru. [3] Her father worked as a nephrologist at Apollo Hospitals, while her mother was a programming executive with Doordarshan an Indian Government broadcasting company. [3] [4] Divya is the only child of her parents. [5] During her childhood, Divya's father taught her science. [6]
Divya, a graduate of Frank Anthony Public School, went on to receive a Bachelor of Technology in Biotechnology from RV College of Engineering. [3] [7]
After her graduation in 2007, she met Byju Raveendran, [8] her instructor for GRE preparation. [3] [9] Byju encouraged her to become a teacher due to her questions during breaks between the classes. [3]
Her career as a teacher began in 2008 [3] at age 21. [10] [7] In 2020, she told Fortune India , "It was an auditorium-style class with 100 students. They were just a couple of years younger than me so to look mature I wore a saree to the class." [3] During her teaching career, she taught mathematics, English, and logical reasoning. [3]
In 2011, Divya and her husband co-founded Byju's, an online education platform initially providing in-person education to support school learning, followed by an online app that features video lessons. [11] [12] [13] With her expertise, Divya has served as a teacher in some educational videos. [14]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Divya took charge of user experience, content, and brand marketing to ensure uninterrupted learning for students. [3] As a result of these efforts, Byju's educational content was made available for free to students during the pandemic, leading to the addition of 13.5 million new users, bringing the total to 50 million by April 2020 and a total of 70 million students by September 2020, eventually garnering 4.5 million subscribers. [15] [16] [17]
According to Forbes , as of 2020, Divya, her husband Byju Raveendran and his brother Riju Raveendran, have a combined net worth of $3.05 billion. [12]
Divya also writes online, including about the future of education, parenting, and women's participation in STEM fields [18] [19] and has been an advocate for mitigating the gender pay gap in India. [20] She has also spoken with Mint Startup Diaries about challenges for women entrepreneurs, [21] and co-written an opinion article with Byju Raveendran in Vogue India about educational technology in India. [22]
In March 2022, Divya Gokulnath was appointed as the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry's EdTech Taskforce Chair. [23]
In February 2024, the Karnataka High Court stopped an attempt by some Byju's shareholders to remove leadership roles from Byju Raveendran, Divya Gokulnath, and Riju Raveendran, pending further court proceedings on 13 March. [24] [25]
| Year | Title | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | LinkedIn Top Voices: India | [26] |
| 2020 | [18] | |
| 2020 | Business Today Most Powerful Women in Indian Business | [27] |
| 2020 | Femina Power List | [19] [28] |
| 2020 | Forbes Asia's Power Businesswomen | [29] |
| 2020 | Fortune India Most Powerful Women | [1] |
| 2021 | Fortune 50 Most Powerful Women In Business | [30] |
| 2021 | Kotak Private Banking's Hurun Leading Wealthy Women List for 2021 | [31] [32] |
| 2022 | Fortune India 40 under 40 | [33] |
| 2022 | The Indian Express' ExpressAWE | [34] |
Divya is married to Byju Raveendran. [35] As of April 2020, Divya lived with eleven other family members, including their young son [36] and then their second child was born near the beginning of 2021. [37] Before the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked long days at the office, but during the lockdown, began working from home. [3] [36] [38]
In 2021, she told The Indian Express her typical day includes "juggling son's online classes, meetings, recording video lessons and spending time with a newborn." [37]
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Byju's is an Indian multinational educational technology company, headquartered in Bengaluru. It was founded in 2011 by Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath. As of October 2024, various media outlets reported that Byju's valuation has now plummeted to zero, down from its peak valuation of $22 billion in 2022. In April 2023, the company claimed it had over 150 million registered students.
Byju Raveendran is an Indian entrepreneur, investor and educator who, with his wife Divya Gokulnath, co-founded Byju's.
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