BYJU’S

Byju's is an Indian multinational educational technology company, headquartered in Bengaluru. It was founded in 2011 by Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath. As of October 2024, various media outlets reported that Byju's valuation has now plummeted to zero, down from its peak valuation of $22 billion in 2022. In April 2023, the company claimed it had over 150 million registered students.

In April 2024, according to a report by the Times of India, Byju's has laid off approximately 500 employees, mainly from its sales and marketing departments. As of 2025, the company is under insolvency proceedings in India.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in July 2024 allowed Byju's parent Think and Learn to move forward insolvency proceedings in a plea filed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over unpaid dues amounting to over ?158 crores. The order was later quashed by NCLAT Chennai after the two parties agreed to a settlement.

Byju Raveendran, at the Global Trends Festival 2020, announces that the edtech startup has an 86% renewal rate. With 70 million users and 4.7 million subscribers, Byju's app downloads have jumped to 600% from 2017 to 2020.

In July 2019, BYJU's won the sponsorship rights for the Indian cricket team jersey, replacing its former sponsor Oppo. Shah Rukh Khan was the brand ambassador for BYJU'S. BYJU’S runs on a freemium model. Free access to content is limited to 15 days after the registration.

Their main product is a mobile app named BYJU'S-The Learning App launched in August 2015. It offers educational content mainly to school students from class 1 to 12 (primary to higher secondary level education). The company also trains students for examinations in India such as IIT-JEE, NEET, CAT, IAS as well as for international examinations such as GRE and GMAT.

The main subjects are mathematics and science, and concepts are explained with 12-20 minute digital animation videos. BYJU'S reports to have 4 crore (40 million) users overall, 30 lakh (3 million) annual paid subscribers and an annual retention rate of about 85%.

In 2019, the company announced that it would launch its app in regional Indian languages. It also planned to launch an international version of the app for English-speaking students in other countries. Recently, Byju's launched new programs in its Early Learn App for students of LKG and UKG as well.

IGNOU

Indira Gandhi National Open University known as IGNOU, is a Central University located at Maidan Garhi, New Delhi, India. Named after former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi, the university was established in 1985 with a budget of ?20 million, after the Parliament of India passed the Indira Gandhi National Open University Act, 1985 (IGNOU Act 1985). IGNOU is run by the central government of India, and with total active enrollment of over 4 million students, claims to be the largest university in the world.

IGNOU was founded to serve the Indian population by means of distance and open education, providing quality higher education opportunities to all segments of society. It also aims to encourage, coordinate and set standards for distance and open education in India, and to strengthen the human resources of India through education. Apart from teaching and research, extension and training form the mainstay of its academic activities. It also acts as a national resource centre, and serves to promote and maintain standards of distance education in India. IGNOU hosts the Secretariats of the SAARC Consortium on Open and Distance Learning (SACODiL) and the Global Mega Universities Network (GMUNET), initially supported by UNESCO.

IGNOU has started a decentralisation process by setting up FIVE zones; north, south, east, west and north-east. The first of the regional headquarters, catering to four southern states, Pondicherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep, is being set up in the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. The Ministry of HRD has entrusted the responsibility of developing Draft Policy on Open and Distance Learning and Online Courses to IGNOU. IGNOU also partners up with other organizations to launch courses. IGNOU offers a BBA in Retail distance learning course in association with Retailers Association of India (RAI).

Recently, the university has implemented the CBCS method to the various bachelors degree courses including BA, BAVTM, BCOM, BSC and others. As per the new CBCS system, the examination will be conducted through semester system that was earlier conducted on an annual mode.

NIIT

With a footprint in over 30+ countries and 35 million+ learners worldwide, NIIT are a leading skills and talent development corporation building a manpower pool for global industry requirements. The company, which was set up in 1981 to help the nascent IT industry overcome its human resource challenges, today ranks among the world's leading training companies owing to its vast and comprehensive array of talent development programs. As India's Most Trusted Educational Brand, NIIT offers training and development solutions to individuals, enterprises and institutions.

NIIT was established in 1981 by Rajendra S. Pawar and Vijay K. Thadani, graduates from IIT Delhi, with one million rupees. NIIT conceived a franchising model in IT education for the very first time, setting up nine centers by 1987.

In 1986, NIIT began its foray into the software domain, beginning with Software Product Distribution under the 'Insoft' brand. The company also began offering advice and consultancy to large corporations on how to leverage technology and make optimum use of their IT investments.

In 1988, NIIT introduced many marketing and advertising strategies for the Indian market including the 'Computerdrome' in 1990. Another initiative launched by NIIT, was its Bhavishya Jyoti Scholarships program, launched in 1991, which was targeted at deserving and socially challenged students with an aim to improve their skills and employability quotient.

In 1992, NIIT launched its flagship program GNIIT, an industry-endorsed course with a 12-month Professional Practice for students seeking careers in the IT and non-IT sectors. By 1993, NIIT began trading NIIT stocks on the Indian stock exchanges. In 1996, NIIT began its globalization journey, setting up an education center in Hong Kong. In the same year, the company launched its virtual university 'Net Varsity'. In 1998, NIIT joined a handful of Indian tech companies to enter the Chinese market. The company earned the epithet, the 'McDonald's of the software business' by Far Eastern Economic Review in September, 2001. The same year, NIIT launched an experiment that was christened 'Hole-in-the-Wall' by media and drew international attention. The experiment was based on the ‘minimally invasive education’ methodology developed by NIIT R&D. It suggested that children, irrespective of their social, ethnic or educational identity could learn to use computers by themselves, without adult intervention. In 2003, NIIT launched its MindChampions Academy (MCA) with Viswanathan Anand, five-time former World Chess champion and NIIT Brand Ambassador.

In 2004, NIIT hived off its software business into an independent organization called NIIT Technologies Ltd. In the area of training, NIIT launched its 'Edgeineers' program in 2005, to boost career opportunities for engineering graduates. In the same year, it diversified into various sectors such as banking, finance and insurance (through IFBI), Executive Management education (through Imperia), Professional Life Skills, BPM, and ICT education for schools. In 2008, NIIT set up NIIT University, in Neemrana, Rajasthan. NU, offers B-Tech and M-Tech programs in computer science and education technology, as well as MBA programs. In 2014, NIIT tied up with National Skill Development Corporation to launch NIIT Yuva Jyoti centers, under the pilot phase of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Skill India campaign and the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) in North East, J&K and Jharkhand.

In May 2019, Baring Private Equity Asia had acquired controlling stake of NIIT Ltd in NIIT Technologies Ltd.