Byju opens up about meeting Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, international plans and how he chooses teachers for the app

Byju opens up about meeting Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, international plans and how he chooses teachers for the app.

Business Insider caught up with Byju Raveendran after Mark Zuckerberg shared a post on Facebook announcing Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s investment in the ed-tech startup.

Q1. Congratulations on the latest round of $50 million! The valuation has been reported at about Rs.3, 200 crores. Would you like to share the details with us?

Byju- Thank you. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (founded by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan) has co-led the investment round with Sequoia Capital, along with Sofina, Lightspeed Ventures and Times Internet Ltd. We would like to not comment on the valuation.

Q2. You must be excited about this investment. How do you think this will affect your brand and business?

Byju- It is very humbling to see such confidence from our investors. In fact, to be the first company in Asia to be backed by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan is very encouraging.

We have been continuously working towards developing world class products which will cater to students with every educational requirement in K-12 (primary and secondary education) segment.

Q3.Did you get a chance to interact with the power couple- Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan?

Byju- After our last investment round in March, I met with the Chan Zuckerberg foundation in San Francisco, California. An investment head from Chan Zuckerberg initiative came in to finalize the details of the deal, which was closed in four-five weeks since I met them.
They were personally excited about our story and our impact in the Indian metros. Both of them understand technology and they are very excited by our offering as we are creating a product that is technologically driven to enable better learning while reaching more and more people. The Smartphone is giving us the kind of reach that, a few years ago, we wouldn’t even have dreamt of.
They’re not just coming on board as an investor but are also taking a board seat.
Vivian Wu from the Chan Zuckerberg initiative will be joining us on the company board after this round.

ALSO READ: Behind Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's first Asian investment- Inspiring story of Byju's founder

Q4. The app wants to reach out to kids as young as 9 years old in the 4th standard.Why is that?

Byju- Education has a big impact on your future especially for us Indians. It’s our biggest bet. 4th- 5th grade is the starting of your formative years in education. It is the time when you can really feel the subject, realize what you’re good at. It is the best time to reach out to students.

Q5. How do you choose your army, in this case, the teachers on your platform? Do you see Byju as a substitute to traditional school systems?

Byju- We look for a good teacher who is passionate about the subject and has a great connect with the students. It is important to motivate students to learn, not rote learn and we ensure that teachers do that in a friendly matter. Just 10% of our content team gets selected for teaching. All the teachers on board are as good as me or even better at what they do.
Byju’s app focuses on comprehensive learning which is personalized for students. We don’t want to be a substitute to schools, but the app works well with the current system.
Our courses cover everything in the curriculum and students can depend on us for extensive learning. On an average, a student spends 40 minutes on our app, which is unlike any similar app in the world.

Q6. We would like to know more about how you will utilize this investment. Which are the markets that you will be targeting?
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Our focus is going to be on our product offerings. We will add more subjects and grades. We will create region-specific products for other big English-speaking markets like U.S.A and the UK. Change the format, team, and gaming technology with each market. We are already present internationally- 15% of our students are not Indians. The Middle East is a majority of that.

We aren’t looking for any more investment currently but all our investment rounds have been borne out of inbound interest.