Byju Raveendran, the founder of the embattled edtech company Byju's, has been sentenced to six months in jail by a Singapore court for contempt of court. The court found that Raveendran disobeyed multiple orders tied to his assets dating back to April 2024, according to a Bloomberg report. This dramatic development marks the latest chapter in what has become one of the most significant corporate collapses in India's startup history.
Who is Byju Raveendran?
Byju Raveendran was born on 5 January 1980 in the Azhikode village of Kerala, India, to Raveendran and Shobhanavalli, both teachers of physics and mathematics. During his primary and secondary education, he demonstrated outstanding proficiency in mathematics. He studied at a Malayalam medium school where his mother taught mathematics and his father taught physics.
Interestingly, during his childhood, Raveendran showed an early preference for sports over formal schooling, often skipping classes to play. He was actively involved in six sports, including football and cricket.
Byju's Educational Qualifications and Career Trajectory
After completing his B.Tech from the Government College of Engineering, Kannur, Raveendran joined a multinational shipping company as a service engineer. He then worked abroad for a multinational company. During a vacation in 2003, he helped friends studying for the CAT exam. Encouraged by them, he took the exam himself despite minimal preparation and scored 99 percentile, drawing considerable attention and leading students to seek his guidance.
Raveendran took the CAT exam twice even after scoring 99 percentile in his first attempt "only to test whether his first attempt's result was a part of his brilliance or just a mere fluke," and he ended up scoring 100 percentile, receiving calls from IIMs. However, he did not join the IIMs.
Rise of BYJU's
From there on, he decided to launch an edtech company to make learning accessible, effective, engaging, and personalized for all students. He launched BYJU's, along with a team, and founded Think & Learn Pvt Ltd in 2011 to offer learning programs to students.
Why is He Under Scrutiny?
Raveendran has been sentenced to six months in jail by a Singapore court for ignoring court orders about his assets since April 2024, according to a Bloomberg report. He must also pay S$90,000 (approximately $70,000) in legal costs and submit ownership documents. Once India's biggest startup star worth $22 billion, he now faces legal troubles across multiple countries.
