Indian edtech giant Byju’s to expand to international markets

Byju’s plans to expand to international markets in the second half of next month as the Indian edtech giant, valued at more than $13 billion, looks to accelerate its growth, TechCrunch has learned and confirmed.

The Bangalore-based startup, which acquired 33-year-old tutor Aakash for nearly $1 billion earlier this week, plans to launch in the U.S., U.K., Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico next month and explore other geographies later this year, it told employees in an email.

The startup’s international business, to be called Byju’s Future School, is being led by Karan Bajaj, the founder of coding platform WhiteHat Jr., which Byju’s acquired for $300 million last year.

“We believe that through technology, we can inspire kids all over the world to fall in love with learning. Our global expansion comes at a critical time as families are actively looking for supplemental learning that encourages their children to be creative and learn by doing,” said Byju Raveendran, founder and chief executive of Byju’s, in a statement. “This launch furthers our vision of creating active learners across the world.”

Byju’s acquires Indian tutor Aakash for nearly $1 billion

WhiteHat Jr.’s platform is playing a crucial role in Byju’s international play. The coding platform, which offers one-to-one sessions between teachers and students, is enabling Byju’s to offer its courses in both synchronous and asynchronous formats.

The startup began experimenting in some international markets late last year, and in recent months has hired several high-profile executives to manage each geographies. All of these executives report to Bajaj, people familiar with the matter said.

“Byju’s Future School helps cross the bridge from passive to active learning by offering an interactive learning platform that blends real-time instruction with lessons that generate creative outcomes for kids aged between 6-18 years,” the email reads.

“Powered by 11,000 qualified women teachers based in India engaging with students from English-speaking countries, Byju’s Future School is further targeting to penetrate deeper into non-English speaking markets such as Mexico and Brazil. The coding curriculum will also be available in Spanish and Portuguese, besides onboarding qualified women teachers who engage with students in these two countries.”

Byju’s Future School plans to offer a range of subjects including music, English, fine arts and science, the startup told employees, and coding and math will be available at the launch.

The story was updated with confirmation from Byju’s.

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