Not the one to rest on his laurels, this sport fanatic upped his game during the pandemic, raising and spending billions of dollars in a flurry of acquisitions that has put Byju’s on track to become a highly profitable, $5-billion revenue company by 2023-2024. This could make it one of India’s five most valuable companies, and him one of the country’s richest business founders. Raveendran talks to BT’s Global Business Editor Udayan Mukherjee about Byju’s explosive growth, the future of ed-tech, and more. Edited excerpts:
UM: You started Byju’s barely a decade ago, and it is already valued more than some of India’s oldest and biggest companies such as IndianOil or Bajaj Auto. Did you ever imagine that Byju’s would become so big in such a short span of time?
BR: To be honest, I didn’t start Byju’s as a business. I was only following my passion. Slowly, it moved from a class of 30 students to auditoriums, then stadiums and, finally, to millions of smartphones. I am still in pursuit of how to make it better and bigger.
UM: From a tutorial teacher to grappling with deals running into hundreds of millions of dollars…do these valuations strike you as a bit of a bubble?
BR: I think it is very early days for our sector and what technology can do for it. This is one of the last sectors technology is going to disrupt. It took a pandemic for a lot of people to realise the benefits of online education. There are many things which can be done better online, though there are areas where offline is better.
Denne historien er fra September 19, 2021-utgaven av Business Today.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra September 19, 2021-utgaven av Business Today.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
The EV Craze
The country’s growing luxury car market is seeing a shift with environmentally-conscious consumers betting on electric vehicles as a sustainable travel option. Though just 6%, the share of EVs in the luxury segment is rising rapidly
The Storage Boom
Data centres are being built at a frenetic pace in india as companies scramble to meet the ballooning demand from mobile phone users and firms adopting al. Can the country’s energy infrastructure keep up?
India Beckons
Owing to rising incomes in India and overall wealth expansion, luxury brands are wooing the country like never before
The Pearls of The Sea
Caviar, that rare food, is considered the epitome of fine dining. Here is everything that you need to know about it
66.Brand persona should define the core"
I’d say this was a strategic pivot. We had an iconic brand, but had, over time, evolved into diversified lines of businesses that could no longer be represented within the confines of our ‘name’.
Unwind in Style
Here is acomprehensive list of top tech picks that help you unwind by blending perfection in performance with luxury
A Lifelong Affair with Inspiration
In my art journey, the diversity of my acquisitions mirrored the expanding horizons of my understanding of art
Make it Bubbly
Champagne is much more than just a symbol of celebration and success. Know about its nuances beyond the bubbles
Palatial Splendour
Buoyed by renewed demand, sales of the glitzy mansions of the ultra-rich are surging like never before. Real estate majors are looking to capitalise on this by launching luxury offerings in record numbers
Of Beaches and Cream
GianChand Single Malt Whisky