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How BYJU’S Became the World’s Most Valuable Ed-Tech Company During the COVID-19 Pandemic

BYJU’S combined an existing learning app with free pandemic-era access, live classes, fundraising and acquisitions. Its “world’s largest” label referred to a dated valuation ranking, not every measure of company size.
From TheFinanceBase Team4 min to read
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BYJU’S grew during the COVID-19 pandemic by turning an existing digital-learning platform into a more widely used service, then using fundraising and acquisitions to expand into adjacent education markets. A 2021 industry report called it the world’s most valuable ed-tech company based on a $16.5 billion private-company valuation as of June 2021—not a ranking by revenue, students, or employees. The available reporting does not establish a current 2026 “largest” ranking.

What “world’s largest” meant in BYJU’S pandemic-era rise

The phrase described valuation, not a single universal measure of company size. An August 2021 industry report listed BYJU’S at $16.5 billion as of June 2021 and called it the world’s most valuable ed-tech company. That was a dated private-market estimate, not an audited value or proof that BYJU’S led every measure of scale.

Its growth is best understood as a sequence: the company already had a digital learning app; school closures made remote learning more relevant; BYJU’S opened app content and introduced live classes; and fundraising and acquisitions enlarged its reach and product mix. The pandemic accelerated these developments, but the evidence does not support treating COVID-19 as the sole cause.

How lockdowns brought more learners to the app

Free access lowered the barrier to trying the service

After lockdowns and school closures, BYJU’S made learning-app content free and introduced live classes, according to Business Standard’s June 2020 reporting. The change gave students and families a way to try digital lessons while ordinary schooling was disrupted.

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Business Standard reported that analysts attributed 13.5 million additional consumers to BYJU’S in March and April 2020. Separately, founder Byju Raveendran told the publication in August that the company had added more than 20 million free users in the four months before his interview. These are differently defined, attributed claims; they should not be combined into one user total.

Engagement and paid subscriptions were distinct measures

In June 2020, Business Standard reported BYJU’S figures of 57 million registered students, more than 3.5 million paid subscribers, and annual renewal rates as high as 85%. Registered users, paying subscribers, and renewals describe different aspects of the business. The figures were company data reported at that time, not independently established current totals.

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The expansion of free access helped broaden the audience, while subscriptions remained a route to monetization. The available figures do not establish that every free user converted to a paid plan.

Revenue grew, but later figures need accounting context

Business Standard reported that BYJU’S revenue rose from ₹1,430 crore in FY2019 to ₹2,800 crore in FY2020. In the same publication’s August 2020 interview, Raveendran said July revenue implied an annualized run rate of ₹6,000 crore, excluding recent acquisitions. A run rate extrapolates a short period; it is not the same as a reported full-year result.

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BYJU’S later reported group revenue of ₹2,428 crore for FY2021 and said nearly 40% was deferred to later years after a COVID-related change in its business model led to a new revenue-recognition approach advised by auditors. The company subsequently announced nearly ₹10,000 crore in gross revenue for FY2022. These figures use different reporting contexts and measures, so they should not be read as a simple year-by-year series. The company’s FY2022 announcement describes the gross-revenue figure and the recognition caveat.

Funding and acquisitions widened the business

Valuation rose in successive dated financing estimates

Business Standard reported a $10.5 billion valuation following a June 2020 funding round. The August 2021 industry report put the valuation at $16.5 billion as of June 2021. These are dated private-company financing or market estimates—not revenue figures, audited asset values, or directly comparable measures of operating performance.

Acquisitions added adjacent education categories

BYJU’S growth was not only organic app usage. A September 2021 Scroll.in account, citing Tracxn data, said the company had spent more than $2.6 billion on acquisitions since its 2011 inception. It described deals spanning coding education, school learning, test preparation, higher education, children’s digital reading, and learning technology.

In April 2021, BYJU’S announced an agreement to acquire Aakash Educational Services, combining BYJU’S digital content and technology with Aakash’s test-preparation expertise and center network. Aakash served students preparing for medical and engineering entrance exams, school and board exams, and other competitive examinations, according to the announcement.

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In July 2021, BYJU’S announced a $500 million acquisition of Epic, a children’s digital-reading platform. The company said Epic reached more than 50 million children; that reach figure is the company’s claim in its acquisition announcement. The same release described Osmo as an educational-games maker and said its computer-vision technology had been integrated into learning products. These deals broadened the company beyond its original app-based lesson offering.

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Why the pandemic mattered—and what the figures do not prove

School closures made online learning more salient and gave BYJU’S a moment to expand trial and engagement through free content and live classes. Its existing platform, user base, paid subscriptions, fundraising, and acquisition strategy also mattered. In June 2020, founder and CEO Byju Raveendran said, “This crisis has brought online learning to the forefront and has helped parents, teachers and students alike to experience and understand the value of it,” as quoted by Business Standard.

The historical evidence supports a pandemic-era growth story and a dated valuation distinction. It does not establish that BYJU’S remains the world’s largest ed-tech company in 2026 under any specific measure. A meaningful present-day comparison would need to name its metric—such as valuation, revenue on a consistent accounting basis, paid users, geographic reach, or product breadth—and use comparable, current figures.

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