In 2015, a young engineer from Kerala started the Byju's app with the aim of reducing the learning pressure of students in the country. But the fall of that growth, which was looked upon with envy by the whole of India, was also very rapid. Let's take a look at the journey.

Byju's came to the market with a big plan to make learning math and science fun. Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and football legend Lionel Messi are the brand ambassadors. Subsequently, it turned the company into a $3 billion profitable business by making the most of the time children spend learning online during Covid. Byju's was valued at $22 billion 15 months ago.

But instead of giving importance to education and technology, Byju Raveendran did a massive marketing for his edutech. Later, it switched to a method of persuading anyone who downloaded BYJU'S - The Learning App - to buy the course. Today, one of its main investors, Prosus NV, has reduced Byju's value to less than $3 billion. The first investors, including Process NV, Peak XV and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, stepped down from Byju's board.

After failing to repay a $1.2 -billion loan, creditors took over the US unit of Byju's. It is currently going through a serious financial crisis. The founder of this start-up, facing mass layoffs and huge losses, has even sold his own house to pay salaries. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also filed a termination petition as the sponsorship was not paid.

Why did things go so wrong so fast? In his book, The Learning Trap, Morning Context journalist Pradeep Saha points out that the same sales strategies that were behind Byju's rapid growth also played a major role in its downfall.
The book includes interviews with current and former employees of BYJU'S.

There was a lot of criticism about the work pressure. Working 12-14 hours a day, six days a week. It tells about how he had to work even when he was sick and had to hear bad words from the boss.

Byju's courses have often been sold to win back customers. Even the poorest families had to pay about $600 for long-term courses. At this time, many financiers also realised that this is not favourable. However, the company claimed that the disclosures against Byju's were complete and not system failures but general issues.