Explore Business Standard
The way of learning and earning: Meet teacher & billionaire Byju Raveendran
India's newest billionaire is a former classroom teacher who developed an education app that's grown to a valuation of almost $6 billion in about seven years. Byju's founder Byju Raveendran grew up in a village on India's southern coast where his parents were school-teachers. He was a reluctant pupil, playing hooky to frequent the football field, then learning on his own at home. He became an engineer and then began helping friends crack entry exams to top Indian engineering and management schools. The classes swelled till he finally began teaching thousands in sports stadiums, becoming a celebrity tutor who commuted between multiple cities during weekends.