Analyst Report for Byju's classes
Welcome!
A LOOK INTO BYJU'S LEARNING APP
This webpage focuses on the analyst report of Byju's learning app as a potential investment in the Edu-Tech market. I hope that you will enjoy what I am about to share with you! :)
Background
India's Education System
Even though India has the largest K-12 education system in the world, it consistently ranks poorly in worldwide assessments. In a global survey conducted annually by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Secretariat to evaluate education systems worldwide, India ranked second last among the 73 countries that participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The survey found that the average 15-year-old Indian is over 200 points behind the global topper in 2012. (The Times of India)
Introduction
Problems
India is doing poorly in education due to a number of reasons:
1. Lack of access to good quality teachers due to a high teacher-student ratio of 1:35
2. Learning is never personalized
3. Memory-based learning driven by fear of exams
Solutions
While every student learns in a different way, and at a different pace;
it is practically impossible to cater to the needs of all students with a
“one-size-fits-all approach” in an ordinary Indian classroom.
Immersive media and technology could be an effective enabler to
democratize access to quality education for all students.
How? Please read on :)
BYJU'S LEARNING APP
The Company
Byju's (run by Think and Learn)
Founded by a self-taught CAT topper who aims to “reinvent how students learn”, Byju's is an EdTech company that offers a variety of learning programs, which cater to the learning needs of students in class 4-12, as well as for competitive exams like CAT, IAS, GRE & GMAT. Last year, the company launched its Learning App to make learning even more handy and convenient. The company has successfully become India’s largest Ed-tech company. Reasons for their rising popularity:
Data-driven Methodology for Personalized-learning
BYJU’s adapts to the unique learning style of each student and creates visual learning with diagrams and engaging videos that put facts into context. Its learning platform also analyzes how students are performing to give them personalized feedback and recommendations as soon as they submit work. This can address any gaps in learning for all students.
Accessibility
With over 70% smartphone penetration rate in India, millions of students can easily download, subscribe and access BYJU's lessons anytime and anywhere. This can solve the problem of access.
Effectiveness
The rich graphics and videos have helped keep students engaged for an average of about 40 minutes per day. The retention numbers are at around 90 per cent. A survey also found that almost 80 percent of parents said it improved their children's learning dramatically.
Venture Analysis
Behind BYJU'S Learning App by Think and Learn
The Learning App
Byju's Learning App
Main features of the App allow learners to:
-- Attend classes anytime, anywhere
-- Revise lessons any number of times
-- All lesson videos are mapped to the curriculum to ensure complete preparation
-- Take chapter-wise tests & get in-depth analysis
-- Study at their own pace
-- Learn simple, shortcut techniques and strategies for difficult questions
-- Predict question types with Unique Pattern workshops
BYJU'S is a product that is technologically driven, with a focus on online operations. (The Economic Times, 2016) With 5.5 million downloads and more than 3,000,000 annual subscribers since its app launch in 2015, contributing 90% to its earnings. (The Economic Times, 2016) The company is seeing promising results.
CEO & Team
Byju Raveendran & Team
Self-identified as "an entrepreneur by chance and a teacher by choice," Raveendran is working with their "young group of teachers, who are handpicked by Byju himself" and staff strength that has grown from 10 to 900, which begins to expand globally.
Investors
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Lightspeed India Partners, Sequoia Capital India, Sofina, Times Internet & others
The company is funded by some of the biggest names in the investment arena, as listed above. (Byju's) Byju’s has raised $75 million in funding from venture capitalists Sequoia Capital and Sofina. (Business Insider) Also, Byju’s is the first company in Asia to be backed by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, named after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan. (Cbinsights) Currently, World Bank arm IFC is also considering investing in Byju's. (Gadgets Today)
Analytical Framework
Type of Market
The Indian K-12 Education market, with over 260 million current enrollments. (BWdisrupt)
User
Byju’s offers learning programmes for K-12 students and aspirants for competitive exams including JEE, NEET, CAT, IAS, GRE and GMAT. Currently, the business has 300,000 subscribers who use the app for an average of 40 minutes a day. (Gadgetsnow, 2016)
Business Model
BYJU’s follows a freemium model -- some part of the content is available for free while advanced levels are billed. Students can download the app for free. If they decide to subscribe to the lessons, they need to pay an annual subscription fee. (Business World, 2016)
Product
Byju makes video tutorials and study materials for Math, Physics, Chemistry and Biology, as well as preparation training for entrance and competitive exams like JEE, NEET, CAT, IAS, GRE and GMAT. (Byju's)
Target
Educators, parents and students in India and abroad.
Competition
iProf Learning Solutions India, New Oriental Education, Simplilearn, Embibe, Toppr and EduKart are a few of the start-up companies in the EdTech industry. (CB Insights)
Differentiation
Byju's leverages technology and data to "understand what they learn, when they learn and most importantly how they learn and how fast they learn" to offer personalized lessons. (India Times, 2016) The data collected from individual students and sets of students in the same age group can provide Byju's with competitive insights to help students grasp things easily and in a fun way. (India Times, 2016)
The company only selects good teachers who are passionate about the subject and have a great connect with the students. (Business Insider, 2016)
Championship & Awards
-- Winner of CNBC TV18, Crisil Emerging India Award in the Education category in the year 2010-2011
-- Deloitte Technology fast 50 Award for four consecutive years of 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015
-- Winner of Big Research NDTV Profit Business & Service Excellence Award
-- Winner of ET Now Education Excellence Award
-- VC Circle Award for Education Company of the Year (India Times, 2016)
Marketibilitty
The Indian K-12 Education market is the largest in the world, continuing to be on the rise to reach 330 million K-12 enrolments in the next five years. The fast-growing EdTech industry is projected to be worth $40 million by 2017, creating the opportunities and condition for Byju’s success with 5.5 million downloads and more than 200,000 paid annual subscribers since it went mobile last year. The company is seeing a 20% month-on-month growth in the number of paid users. (Your story) Geared to cater the learning needs of more students, the company is protecting to broaden the target size amongst the 250 million students in India by adding more subjects and grades.
Market Readiness
Evident in Byju’s phenomenal growth in profit and users, the use of technology in the education sector has proven to be highly effective to scale up. Since Byju’s app launch last year, smartphone has become a convenient and effective learning device to reach millions of students in India and abroad. It is no doubt that the 70% smartphone penetration rate for India’s K-12 school kids will continue to grow rapidly. "We already got 15% revenue from some of the West Asian countries like Dubai and Kuwait, but these are basically an extension of the Indian market. Now, our focus will be the Commonwealth countries as well as the US and UK. We are also exploring some potential acquisitions, which will give us insights into some of those markets.” Raveendran said. The market is thus ready both for the company and the shareholders to expand their business to target international markets with the $155 million total funds raised.
I support an investment in Byju’s learning app
Why?
1. The Indian EdTech market is massive, this creates a lot of opportunities for Byju’s
2. They are high competitive in the field because:
- they have won many awards;
- Ed tech companies in India raised $85 million last year, $75 million of which was directed to Byju’s (The Times of India, 2016)
3. The company is well-established and backed by global investors like Sequoia Capital, Sofina SA, Lightspeed Venture, Times Internet and the Zuckerberg initiative, who can help them connect with the international market
4. The app has 90 per cent annual renewal rates and good conversion rates from the users, meaning they are satisfied and continuing with the service
5. The team of Byju's teachers are professional and experienced, and their teaching has been proven effective
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References
BYJU’S. Retrieved from: https://byjus.com/
BYJU’S. (2015, July 10). Byju's Learning App - All Products. [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbUjixeNoJI
BYJU’S App. [Photograph]. Retrieved from: https://byjus.com/
Byju’s Public list. (2016, March 21). CB INSIGHTS. Retrieved from: https://www.cbinsights.com/company/byjus
BYJU’S Team. [Photograph]. Retrieved from: https://byjus.com/
Chhapia, H. (2012, January 15). Indian students rank 2nd last in global test. India Times. Retrieved from: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Indian-students-rank-2nd-last-in-global-test/articleshow/11492508.cms
Dubey, T. (2016, September 9). Byju opens up about meeting Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, international plans and how he chooses teachers for the app. Business Insider. Retrieved from: http://www.businessinsider.in/Byju-opens-up-about-meeting-Chan-Zuckerberg-initiative-international-plans-and-how-he-chooses-teachers-for-the-app-/articleshow/54250709.cms
Gupta, P. (2015, September 7) BYJU's Classes Offers Supplemental School Curriculum & Test Prep Classes for Students. Edtech review. Retrieved from: http://edtechreview.in/news/2105-byju-classes
Morville, P. (2016). Experience Honeycomb diagram. Semantic Studios. Retrieved from: http://semanticstudios.com/user_experience_design/
Peermohamed, A. (2016, July 24(. Edutech firm Byju's to raise $50 million. Business Standard. Retrieved from: http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/edutech-firm-byju-s-to-raise-50-million-116072400396_1.html
Sangwan, S. (2016, July 16). BYJU's, Ed-Tech Company That is Reinventing How Students Learn, Through Its Learning App. BW Business World. Retrieved from: bwdisrupt.businessworld.in/article/BYJU-s-Ed-Tech-Company-That-is-Reinventing-How-Students-Learn-Through-Its-Learning-App/12-07-2016-100353/
Shu, C. (2016, March 21). Ed-tech startup BYJU raises $75M from Sequoia India and Sofina. Tech Crunch. Retrieved from: https://techcrunch.com/2016/03/21/ed-tech-startup-byju-raises-75m-from-sequoia-india-and-sofina/
Team YS. (2015, December 12). Meet Byju, who’s changing the way India learns. Your Story. Retrieved from: https://yourstory.com/2015/12/byjus-classes-byju-raveendran/
Vwivedi, D. (2016, July 16). Why Byju Raveendran's firm is leading in the educational technology space. The Economic Times. Retrieved from: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/52700525.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst