Has Byju’s been good for the education system ?
I guess the answer is both yes and no .
The fact that they have raised so much money means lots of entrepreneurs are happy to try to follow in their footsteps , because they are convinced that they can do a better job . This is great , because it encourages competition , and investors are also willing to back edutech entrepreneurs , because this space has now become so hot .
However, because of the high pressure selling tactics which Byju’s uses, all these edutech startups and e-learning platforms have acquired a bad reputation .
Lots of very unhappy parents will refuse try these , even though they may be better and cheaper than Byju’s , because they have burned their fingers once.
This is what happens when mercenary desires trump missionary zeal !
Also, because Byju’s has such deep pockets , their ability to beat smaller startups ( who may actually have a better product ) gives them an unfair edge. It becomes hard for other startups to compete, because they are the gorilla in the room , because of their aggressive desire to gain market share.
Update — 2026. When I first wrote this, Byju's was India's most valuable startup, worth around $22 billion. It has since collapsed. Its investors wrote the value down to near zero, its auditor and independent directors resigned, it defaulted on a $1.2 billion loan, and it was pulled into insolvency proceedings. Thousands of the young people it hired were let go. I take no pleasure in having been right — the human cost was real. I've gathered the whole story, in order, in The Byju's Files.