Byju's Looks To Sell Great Learning and Epic To Repay $1 Bn Loan

Byju's, the struggling EdTech giant, in a surprising move offering to repay $300 million of the distressed debt within three months if the amendment proposal is accepted and the remaining amount in the subsequent three months.

According to a report by Reuters, Byju's is looking to sell two of its companies it acquired in 2021— Great Learning and Epic — to raise up to $1 billion in an effort to streamline its businesses and repay it's lenders.

In July 2021, BYJU’S acquired Great Learning Pvt. Ltd. for $600 million and Epic! for $500 million.

Byju's plans to sell these two companies are part of a "strategy review" to focus on its original area of K-12 education area while divesting from other business lines.

Valued at $22 billion last year, Byju's could also sell more of its assets in the future to raise cash, said the Reuters' report citing two of its sources.

BYJU'S has made 19 acquisitions and 2 investments, according to Tracxn. The EdTech company has spent over $ 2.88 billion for the acquisitions in previous years. 

Byju’s and its lenders have been involved in a conflict for almost a year, during which rounds of negotiations to revamp its loan agreement have failed.

In June, three of Byju's investor board members quit the company's board without explanation, leaving only company executives on the board. The same day, its auditor Deloitte quit mid-way through its audit, saying there was a "significant impact" on its ability to perform the audit according to necessary standards after "long-delayed" financial statements by the company.

BYJU'S Advisory Council Now Has Rajnish Kumar and T V Mohandas Pai

Industry veterans accept founders' invitation to bolster governance and reporting

The founders of BYJU'S are pleased to announce that Rajnish Kumar and TV Mohandas Pai have accepted their invitation to join the company's newly constituted Advisory Council. This council will play a pivotal role in advising and mentoring BYJU'S Board and its CEO, Byju Raveendran, on crucial matters that shape the company's future.

The appointment of these two esteemed thought leaders in finance and governance to the Advisory Council underscores BYJU'S commitment to enhancing its financial governance mechanisms and leveraging expert advice to drive sustainable growth and strategic decision-making. The BYJU'S Advisory Council is poised to bring fresh perspectives and finance acumen to help BYJU'S maintain its position as a global leader in the ed-tech space.

Speaking on the occasion T V Mohandas Pai said, "Byju and Divya are amongst the most impressive entrepreneurs I have worked with from the startup ecosystem. Since our first contact more than a decade ago, they have built the largest edtech company globally and amongst the largest startups in India. I see in them the drive to build the group into a successful corporation, and to ensure they deliver upon their mission in this sector as a category creator and market leader. As part of the Advisory Council, I look forward to advising the leadership in evolving the systems of governance and financial reporting, as well as to grow an organisational structure that can serve as a resilient foundation for the future of the company."

Rajnish Kumar, voiced his opinion on this as well. "My discussions with Byju and Divya convinced me that they are dedicating sincere efforts to steer a course correction of the company's governance structure. They have reached out to engage with experienced professionals with a proven track record of running large corporates and with a deep understanding of governance issues. The company has achieved an impressive growth trajectory and has built significant scale in its base of revenue, operations, and global presence. With calibrated guidance from experienced advisors who have come together to support these dynamic entrepreneurs, the company will be able to move forward and continue to contribute to this very important field of education."

"We are truly honoured to welcome Rajnish Kumar and T V Mohandas Pai in the BYJU'S Advisory Council. Their decision to join this council is a resounding vote of confidence in our mission, vision, and strategic direction. Their unparalleled leadership experience and deep understanding of the finance and technology domains will greatly enrich our strategic initiatives and strengthen our governance. With their invaluable insights and expertise, we are confident that we will continue to have a transformative impact on the education landscape," said Divya Gokulnath and Byju Raveendran, Founders of BYJU'S.

T V Mohandas Pai is a distinguished recipient of the prestigious Padma Shri Award. Mohandas Pai's impressive tenure as the former CFO and Board Member at Infosys shaped his reputation in the technology industry. His vast experience including serving the boards of regulatory authorities, provided him with exposure to the economy and regulatory domains. As the co-founder of Akshaya Patra, the world's largest midday meal program, he has demonstrated a pioneering commitment to social causes. Notably, his leadership of Aarin Capital, a leading private equity fund and an early investor in BYJU'S, reflects his belief in the company's potential.

Rajnish Kumar, a renowned figure in the finance world, brings a wealth of expertise and knowledge to the Advisory Council. His remarkable leadership skills, demonstrated during his tenure as the Chairperson of the State Bank of India, have been instrumental in catalyzing transformative changes across India’s financial institutions. His extensive experience in leading a tech startup at scale makes him an invaluable addition to the newly constituted council.

BYJU’S is the world’s leading edtech company that offers highly adaptive, engaging, and effective learning programs for students across K-12, competitive exams, coding, and upskilling courses for professionals. With 150 million monthly active students, BYJU’S has been at the forefront of creating tech-driven and immersive learning experiences for students around the world.

Since the launch of its flagship Learning App in 2015, BYJU’S has been innovating learning experiences and pioneering new approaches to education by blending world-class pedagogy with cutting edge technology. These include hybrid learning, ‘phygital’ learning, interactive and personalised approaches, and multiple learning formats.

BYJU’S portfolio of products has now expanded to meet the learning requirements across grades, levels, and geographies. These include Disney.BYJU’S Early Learn, which offers highly engaging early learning programs for the K-3 segment; BYJU’S Classes with Two Teacher Advantage – a comprehensive after-school learning solution; BYJU’S Tuition Centre – a hybrid after-school learning centre; BYJU’S Exam Prep for various entrance tests, and more. It also offers coding, maths and music programs to students in the USA, UK, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, and Mexico.

BYJU’S is taking big strides in bringing together the best of offline and online learning experiences and setting up international innovation hubs to deliver breakthrough solutions across its ecosystem of learning products.

Taking its vision of building a community of active learners globally, BYJU’S has onboarded strong partners through strategic acquisitions of Osmo, EPiC, Tynker, White Hat Jr, Aakash, Great Learning, Gradeup, and GeoGebra.

A digital-first company, BYJU’S has been backed by prominent investors like Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Naspers, CPPIB, General Atlantic, Tencent, Sequoia Capital, Sofina, Verlinvest, IFC, Aarin Capital, TimesInternet, Lightspeed Ventures, Tiger Global, Owl Ventures & Qatar Investment Authority. 

BYJU’S Launches BYJU’S WIZ, A Suite of Cutting-Edge AI Models for Hyper-Personalized Learning

• The new suite comprises three revolutionary transformer models - BADRI, Math GPT, and TeacherGPT
• BADRI, a predictive AI model, implements personalized ‘forgetting curves’ that can pinpoint a student's strengths and weaknesses at a granular level
• MathGPT uses advanced machine learning algorithms to generate optimal solutions for complex mathematical challenges accurately
• TeacherGPT, an AI-driven assistant, uses a unique ‘point teach and bottom-out approach’, to ensure that students are gently guided toward the correct answer and offers personalized guidance
• With a nearly 90% accuracy rate, BYJU’S AI innovations are redefining the future of learning

BYJU’S, the world’s leading edtech company, has announced the launch of BYJU’S WIZ, an innovative suite of three cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) transformer models - BADRI, MathGPT, and TeacherGPT.

The new suite is poised to reshape learning, providing students with personalized and effective learning experiences. Its integration across BYJU’S learning platforms is a significant step forward in the company's continued efforts to move education away from a one-size-fits-all approach and instead make it hyper-personalized and student-centric. With a nearly 90% accuracy rate, which is the best in the industry, BYJU’S AI innovations are set to redefine the future of learning.

In a remarkable testament to BYJU'S continuous innovations in emerging technologies, the AI suite stands out by not only being built on the foundation of existing generative AI models but also by harnessing the immense power of BYJU'S vast ocean of data, based on the billions of daily interactions that happen on its platforms. This synergy allows the AI suite to undergo extensive training and amplification, enabling it to bring unparalleled delight to students, teachers, and parents alike.

Dev Roy, Chief Innovation and Learning Officer at BYJU'S, said on the launch of this AI suite: “Innovation is at the heart of BYJU's approach to learning and teaching. We are thrilled to introduce these innovative models, which embody our commitment to becoming an AI-powered student-centric education company. We believe BYJU’SWIZ will usher in a new era of personalized learning, taking a significant leap forward in the way we educate our future generations. Its launch is a definitive event in our constant endeavor to teach students not just ‘what to learn’ but also ‘how to learn’.”

BYJU'S Attentive DateVec Rasch Implementation (BADRI)	An advanced predictive AI model developed in-house, BADRI leverages billions of daily student interactions and uses advanced ?transformer? technology similar to language learning models (LLMs) like ChatGPT It implements personalized ?forgetting curves? to pinpoint each student's strengths and weaknesses, providing tailored questions and learning videos for areas of improvement. It is one of the most accurate knowledge-tracing models in the field of education.
TescherGPT	Built as an AI-driven assistant, TeacherGPT offers personalized guidance to students as well as grade student responses. With a unique ‘point teach and bottom-out’ approach, it ensures that students are gently guided towards the correct answer, promoting independent problem-solving skills
MathGPT	MathGPT employs advanced machine learning algorithms to provide highly accurate solutions for complex math challenges Trained solely on mathematical problem-solving, it addresses the limitations of generalized language learning models that lack the depth required for specific sectors like education

The AI suite’s ability to accurately predict a student's knowledge state, and identify misconceptions, learning gaps, or ‘silly’ mistakes, are a huge step forward in freeing learning from the constraints of space and time. By providing 24x7 hyper-personalized learning experiences tailored to each student's unique needs anywhere in the world, it will make learning more engaging, effective, and enjoyable for students worldwide while also optimizing internal systems such as teacher audits to make offerings such as LIVE classes better. The AI team at BYJU’S, working under the guidance of Dev Roy, has ensured that the AI suite is not just hyper-personalized but also safe, reliable, and curriculum-aligned.

These pioneering models are currently undergoing rigorous testing at BYJU’S Labs, which are equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and staffed by a dedicated team of researchers, data scientists, and educational experts. Given their unparalleled potential to effectively cater to diverse educational needs, they are set to be integrated across the entire product portfolio of BYJU’S, from Pre-K to Gray. This comprehensive integration will ensure that students of all ages can benefit from the cutting-edge advancements and transformative impact of these models throughout their learning journey.

About BYJU’S:

BYJU’S is the world’s leading edtech company that offers highly adaptive, engaging, and effective learning programs for students across K-12, competitive exams, coding, and upskilling courses for professionals. With over 150 million registered learners globally and a presence in 120 countries, BYJU’S has been at the forefront of creating tech-driven and immersive learning experiences for students around the world.

Since the launch of its flagship Learning App in 2015, BYJU’S has been innovating learning experiences and pioneering new approaches to education by blending world-class pedagogy with cutting edge technology. These include hybrid learning, ‘phygital’ learning, interactive and personalised approaches, and multiple learning formats.

BYJU’S portfolio of products has now expanded to meet the learning requirements across grades, levels, and geographies. These include Disney.BYJU’S Early Learn, which offers highly engaging early learning programs for the K-3 segment; BYJU’S Classes with Two Teacher Advantage – a comprehensive after-school learning solution; BYJU’S Tuition Centre – a hybrid after-school learning centre; BYJU’S Exam Prep for various entrance tests, and more. It also offers coding, maths and music programs to students in the USA, UK, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, and Mexico.

BYJU’S is taking big strides in bringing together the best of offline and online learning experiences and setting up international innovation hubs to deliver breakthrough solutions across its ecosystem of learning products.

Taking its vision of building a community of active learners globally, BYJU’S has onboarded strong partners through strategic acquisitions of Osmo, EPiC, Tynker, White Hat Jr, Aakash, Great Learning, Gradeup, and GeoGebra.

A digital-first company, BYJU’S has been backed by prominent investors like Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Naspers, CPPIB, General Atlantic, Tencent, Sequoia Capital, Sofina, Verlinvest, IFC, Aarin Capital, TimesInternet, Lightspeed Ventures, Tiger Global, Owl Ventures & Qatar Investment Authority. 

BYJU'S Announces Upcoming IPO of Aakash Education Services Limited

Aakash’s revenue on track to reach INR 4,000 crore with an EBITDA of INR 900 crore in the fiscal year 2023-24

BYJU'S, world’s leading edtech company, announces that it will launch the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of its subsidiary, Aakash Education Services Limited (AESL) mid next year. The IPO will mark a milestone in the continued growth and expansion of Aakash + BYJU'S, creating a comprehensive portfolio of products that caters to a broader range of students.

The Board of BYJU’S has granted its official sanction for this pivotal undertaking. The appointment of the merchant bankers for the IPO will be announced soon to ensure a planned and successful listing next year. The upcoming IPO will provide a significant capital infusion to bolster Aakash's infrastructure, broaden its reach, and extend high-quality test-prep education to a larger number of students across the nation.

Since acquisition, Aakash has benefitted from multiple synergies with BYJU’S that have accelerated its growth - clocking a three-fold increase in revenue in the last two years. AESL’s revenue is on track to reach INR 4,000 crore with an EBITDA of INR 900 crore in the fiscal year 2023-24.

Test-prep market revenues are predicted to grow at a CAGR of 9.3% over 2020-2025, led by the online test preparation segment which is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 42.3% over the same duration, as per Ken Research. Aakash is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this growth due to its comprehensive range of offerings that combine the best of classroom-based learning with cutting-edge digital products and services tailored for engineering and medical entrance exams.

With BYJU'S extensive experience in online education, vast student base across India and Aakash's leadership in the offline test-prep market, the combined entity has strengthened its position in the industry. Additionally, BYJU’S has further empowered Aakash with its advanced tech and digital infrastructure helping them offer engaging and powerful learning experiences.

As Aakash prepares for its public listing, the company remains dedicated to its core values of academic excellence and student success. A market leader in the test-prep category, Aakash now looks forward to leveraging the opportunities presented by its public listing to empower even more students to achieve their aspirations and excel in their chosen fields.

Aakash is India's largest and one of the most successful test prep companies for engineering and medical entrance exams, with over 325 centres currently serving more than 400,000 students across the country. With over 35 years of legacy in test-prep, Aakash has consistently produced outstanding results in the highly competitive JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) for engineering and NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) for medical studies. In fact, one out of every three doctors in India is an Aakashian, demonstrating the trust and faith that students and parents place in Aakash's methodology and pedagogy.

BYJU’S and Andhra Pradesh Govt Signs MoU to Offer Quality Education to Underprivileged Students in Govt Schools Across the State

BYJU’S, the world’s leading edtech company today signed an MOU with the Govt of Andhra Pradesh to provide quality education to students in government schools located across the state. Through this partnership, high-quality,  tech-enabled maths and science resources will be available for students in classes 4 to 10.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Shri. YS Jagan Reddy, said, “We are happy to partner with BYJU’S to offer quality learning content to students from financially weaker sections of this society. Through this initiative, our aim is to empower students in classes 4 to 10 in government schools with the right guidance and education that will help achieve better learning outcomes. Thank you BYJU'S for coming forward to shape a better education system.”

“The government will also invest INR 500 crores to provide these students with tablets by September this year,'' he further added.

Byju Raveendran, Founder, and CEO, BYJU’S, said, “It is an absolute honour to partner with the Government of Andhra Pradesh to further our commitment to make quality education accessible. Education is a basic right that should be available to students regardless of their socio-economic background or location. As someone who has studied in a government school myself, I am positive that a partnership like this can usher in impact at scale. This collective effort can help children, across the board, reach their actual potential."

With this step, we move closer to the goal of ensuring that no child is left out due to lack of educational resources. The significant acceptance of online learning in the last two years has led to swift digitization of the education system, thereby helping millions of children discover their full potential. Through this partnership, the Andhra Pradesh Government is aiming to aid this revolution and make tech-enabled learning a reality for children in govt schools., 

BYJU'S Exam Prep relaunches GATE offering

BENGALURU, India, Nov. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- BYJU'S Exam Prep, an offering from BYJU'S, the world's leading edtech company today, announced the relaunch of one of its renowned Exam prep for GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test For Engineering). A highly competitive national-level exam, GATE provides students an opportunity to pursue MTech from prestigious institutions like IIT and access to jobs from top PSUs.

With an aim to offer a holistic approach to exam preparation, the relaunched product features a GATE learning tablet, high-quality recorded content, weekly & subject tests, printed workbooks, previous year question books, subject-wise formula notes, live classroom and doubt resolution sessions under the guidance of expert faculty. Students will now receive customised, integrated,and comprehensive exam preparation with the new Online Classroom Program.

Shobhit Bhatnagar, CEO, BYJU'S Exam Prep, said, "The relaunch will play an instrumental role in shaping the future and career of BYJU'S Exam Prep's GATE aspirants. With the help of our well-designed programs and highly qualified faculty, we will be offering extensive guidance for aspirants to enhance their core technical knowledge, maximize their potential & make way for a bright & successful future."

BYJU'S Exam Prep in the past couple of years has produced exceptional results in the GATE category. 50+ students scored under AIR 100 in GATE 2020 and 100+ students achieved under AIR 100 in GATE 2021. With the relaunch of GATE, BYJU'S Exam Prep will create a stronger foothold in the ed-tech space while making comprehensive and premium quality exam preparation easily accessible for all GATE aspirants.

Formerly known as Gradeup, BYJU'S Exam Prep is a fast growing comprehensive exam preparation platform. It caters to students preparing for over 150 examinations across 25 categories that include government jobs, postgraduate entrance exams such as IAS, CAT, Defence, UGC-NET, and many more. With over 3.5M+ registered students, the app enables aspirants to prepare efficiently by providing them with online classroom programs conducted by India's top faculty, study material exclusively designed by subject matter experts, and the latest pattern test series with in-depth analysis to assess their areas of weaknesses & realize their truest potential.

About BYJU'S:

BYJU'S is the world's leading edtech company and the creator of India's most loved school learning app which offers highly adaptive, engaging and effective learning programs for students in LKG, UKG, classes 1 -12 (K-12) and competitive exams like JEE, NEET and IAS.

BYJU'S launched its flagship product, BYJU'S - The Learning App, for classes 4-12 in 2015. Today, the app has over 100 million registered students and 6.5 million annual paid subscriptions. With an average time of 71 minutes being spent by a student on the app every day from 1700+ cities, the app is creating a whole new way of learning through visual lessons. The Disney BYJU'S Early Learn App was launched in June 2019, a special offering from BYJU'S for students in classes 1-3 featuring Disney's timeliness characters. In early 2019, BYJU'S acquired Osmo, a Palo Alto based maker of educational games to transform the whole offline to online learning experience. BYJU'S also acquired WhiteHat Jr in 2020, a Mumbai-based programming start-up focused on empowering children with coding skills.

In 2021, BYJU'S acquired the market leader and one of the most trusted test-prep service providers in India - Aakash Educational Services Limited (ASEL), Epic and Great Learning. Taking the vision of creating active learners around the world and expanding globally, BYJU'S also launched BYJU'S Future School recently. Powered by 11,000 qualified women teachers, this is available in the USA, UK, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico and will progressively expand to more geographies in the near future. Furthermore, BYJU'S Learning App featuring Disney was launched in the USA in July 2021, to help children ages 4–8 explore, practice, and understand math, language and reading concepts through interactive learning journeys combined with Disney's world-class storytelling. BYJU'S has been backed by strong and prominent investors like Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Naspers, CPPIB, General Atlantic, Tencent, Sequoia Capital, Sofina, Verlinvest, IFC, Aarin Capital, TimesInternet, Lightspeed ventures, Tiger Global, Owl Ventures & Qatar Investment Authority. Delivering a world-class learning experience, programs from BYJU'S are making learning contextual and visual. The apps have been designed to adapt to the unique learning style of every student, as per the pace, size and style of learning. BYJU'S is paving the way for new-age, geography-agnostic learning tools that sit at the cross section of mobile, interactive content and personalised learning methodologies. BYJU'S is also the official sponsor of the Indian Cricket Team.

BYJU's is Buying Aakash Educational Services Ltd. for $1 Billion

BYJUS's, which is touted as biggest edtech firm in the world, has reportedly signed a deal to acquire brick & mortar medical test preparation provider Aakash Educational Services Ltd. for $1 billion, according to a report by Business Standard which cited a person with knowledge of the talks.

Citing a source privy to the advancements, the report further said that the acquisition deal should close in the next two or three months and if materialized, it will be one of the largest edtech acquisitions in the world.

Aakash Educational Services runs Aakash Institute with over 200 brick and mortar centers accross India. It offer preparation to students for entrance-exams of the country’s elite engineering and medical schools. Its student count is over 250,000, according to its website.

Last year in January, Aakash Educational Services Acquires Meritnation's Parent firm, Applect Learning Systems, for Rs 100 Crore and in the same month earlier, Info Edge (India) Ltd sold its total shareholding in Applect Learning Systems to Aakash Educational Services for Rs 50 crore.

Bangalore-headquartered Byju’s is valued at $12 billion and has been on a fund-raising spree as the pandemic has sent demand for its online lessons soaring. India’s second-most valuable startup is backed by the likes of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Tiger Global Management and Bond Capital, co-founded by Silicon Valley investor Mary Meeker.