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  • BYJU’S latest ad is a tribute to all parents

    BYJU’S latest ad is a tribute to all parents

    Mumbai: Ed-tech start-up BYJU’S has rolled out a new digital campaign honouring the sacrifices made by parents to build a successful professional career for their children.

    The new campaign – #HonorTheSacrifices went live on the brand’s social media handles on the occasion of Parents’ Day on 25 July.

    Conceptualised by the in-house team and created in partnership with Mumbai-based Dora Digs, the film includes four beautiful stories showing how our parents have always had their children’s backs and never shied away from providing them with any necessary support to achieve our goals.

    The first ad shows how a mother prioritises her child’s needs over hers, even for smaller things, like purchasing a better uniform, over a new saree. And, how a father keeps postponing his plan to buy a new scooter to save money for his son’s dream of becoming a cricketer.

    The campaign attempts to bind the audience with the love and warmth of a beautiful parent-child relationship, while invoking the brand’s philosophy- ‘Proud partner to parents’. It aims to celebrate parents for the selfless commitment and lifelong sacrifice towards nurturing the relationship with their children and always encouraging them to follow their passion.

  • Byju’s acquires US start-up Epic for $500 mn

    Byju’s acquires US start-up Epic for $500 mn

    New Delhi: Signalling its bid to expand its global footprint, edtech major Byju’s has announced that it has acquired Epic, US based digital reading platform for kids for $500 million.

    The company said it will invest an additional $1 billion in the US to strengthen its vision of “helping students fall in love with learning”.

    The acquisition will enable the ed-tech major to bolster its presence in the US market by providing access to the more than two million teachers and 50 million kids in Epic’s existing global user-base, which has more than doubled over the last year, Byju’s said in a statement. It will also enable it to create engaging and interactive reading and learning experiences for children globally.

    “Our mission is to fuel curiosity and make students fall in love with learning. Knowing that Epic and its products are rooted in the same mission, it was a natural fit. Together, we have the opportunity to create impactful experiences for children to become lifelong learners,” said Byju’s founder and CEO, Byju Raveendran.

    Epic CEO Suren Markosian and co-founder Kevin Donahue will continue in their current roles.

    “The alignment of missions and shared passion makes Byju’s the perfect partner, as Epic is confident that this acquisition will ignite excitement for learning around the world,” said Epic co-founder, Markosian. “Together, we can help empower future generations of kids by fostering a lifetime love for reading and learning.”

    Byju’s has aggressive plans for international and US market expansion, and the acquisition with Epic will not only lead to significant investments in technology that will help to further personalised learning for students but also enable Byju’s to become a natural part of America”s learning culture, the statement said

  • Discovery and Byju’s come together to host DSSL Season 4

    Mumbai: Following the success of Discovery School Super League (DSSL) season three, Discovery India and the learning app, Byju’s have come together to announce its next season. With the campaign ‘Aao Milkar le Khushi ki Udaan’, this latest season will target over three million participants across the country, class three to ten students from 30,000 schools across 30 states in its new virtual format, the company said.  

    After going through rigorous rounds of quizzing, the top team from each of the 30 states will qualify for the six-episode TV quiz show, which will premiere on Discovery channel and Discovery Kids. Nine students of the competition along with their respective principal/teacher will be awarded a special chance of spending a day at NASA, it added.  

    “This initiative is an attempt to give students a unique opportunity to dive deeper into every subject while honing their general knowledge,” Byju’s marketing head Atit Mehta said. “Combining technology and creativity, we’re bringing students immersive ways to stay engaged whilst learning thereby making the application a wholesome destination for acquiring knowledge and ensuring every student gets a chance to participate in the quiz hassle-free. Discovery School Super League began as a means to contribute to the development of young minds, letting them compete healthily. With students from across 30000 schools participating in the quiz, season 4 will bring double the excitement, fun, and learning.”

    Discovery’s south Asia head of advertising & sales, Shaun Nanjappa Chendira said, “Discovery School Super League continues to be one of the most awaited events in the School calendar given the scale of the platform and opportunities it provides for students to shine at a national level. In fact, with schools being closed due to the pandemic, the eagerness of the student community to participate in quiz has increased. We at Discovery believe that learning can be made fun through innovative and engaging formats and Discovery School Super League becoming India’s biggest and highly appreciated quiz competition serves as a testament to our belief.”

  • Dhoni & Ranveer Singh most recalled celebs in IPL 2021 ads: Report

    Dhoni & Ranveer Singh most recalled celebs in IPL 2021 ads: Report

    MUMBAI: That Bollywood & Cricket reign supreme over Indians’ hearts and minds has never been doubted – in fact it’s a tie between both! In the annual IPL ad recall research of the Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB) conducted ten days after the start of the League this year both- Captain Cool Dhoni and the effervescent Ranveer Singh have come up tops with both seeming to have done equally well. This is the second consecutive year that the cricketer was at No. 1, in 2019 Shah Rukh Khan had topped the report.

    The research polled 879 respondents in the age-group of 18-35 years (M=481, F=398) across India with the survey being conducted telephonically.  

    Dream 11 was the most spontaneously recalled brand in this year’s survey, which possibly also helped enhance both the brand equity and recall of MS Dhoni who anchored the 12-ad series for the brand as its ambassador and protagonist.

    Jio Fiber, with multiple IPL teams featuring an ever-enthusiastic Ranveer Singh gyrating to a sing-song brand message came in second on recall in the research. This also helped the celebrity endorser to considerably strengthen his personal recall. This was in sync with the ultra-high recall of the brands they respectively endorse. It may be noted however, that on the IPL last year Byju’s being the most spontaneously recalled brand did not help the cause of its celebrity endorser. Shah Rukh Khan trailed behind other celebrities.  

    The study bases the celeb score on Celebrity Brand Association & Recognition to assign a metric score to each celebrity and associated brand. While Dhoni scored a high CELEBAR of 87, Ranveer achieved a score of 86, empirically almost equal to the former’s.

    Virat Kohli, expectedly did well on recall too and came third in the recall rankings. Salman Khan did surprisingly well in this year’s survey coming in at No. 4, ahead of Rishabh Pant, Rahul Dravid, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Saurav Ganguly who followed in that sequence.

    Despite featuring heavy media weights, Ajay Devgn and Shah Rukh Khan the Vimal elaichi ad had only an eight per cent recall.  

    Interestingly, brands without celebrities like Phone Pe, Byju’s and several others performed far better, establishing that sans celebrities good advertising still works,  especially wherever media investments are heavy.

     On the ads without celebrities, the most remembered were Phone Pe, Byju’s, Vivo, One Plus, Groww, Upstox, Kia and MPL.

    Seventeen per cent of respondents spontaneously recalled Rahul Dravid’s association with CRED ad, but only two per cent could recollect that Jackie Shroff and Kumar Sanu were also a part of the campaign.  

  • Byju’s acquires Aakash Educational Services for nearly $1 billion

    Byju’s acquires Aakash Educational Services for nearly $1 billion

    NEW DELHI: Aiming to bolster its presence in the offline test preparation segment, Indian ed-tech leader Byju's has acquired Aakash Educational Services (AESL). The deal is apparently worth $1 billion, making it the biggest acquisition by Byju's to date. 

    Aakash Educational Services is a 33-year-old chain of physical coaching centers, and with this acquisition, Byju's hopes to accelerate its offline growth. Backed by Blackstone, Aakash has more than 200 operational physical tutoring centers in India. 

    "This will be the largest integration in the education space in India, especially in the startup space. Covid has really opened the gates to online education significantly and going forward, we believe that all kinds of models in education will exist in K-12, test prep, and even higher education," AESL managing director Aakash Chaudhry told PTI. 

    Chaudhry added that the merger could help to deliver education through multiple channels, both offline and online. He asserted that Byju's will make further investments to accelerate the growth of Aakash after the integration. AESL will continue operating as a separate entity and will expand its operations in the country, he clarified.

    "Our complementary strengths will enable us to build capabilities, create engaging and personalised learning programs. The future of learning is hybrid and this union will bring together the best of offline and online learning, as we combine our expertise to create impactful experiences for students," said Byju's CEO Byju Raveendran, as quoted by The Times of India. 

    Already touted as the biggest player in India’s booming ed-tech space, Byju's had acquired TutorVista and Edurite from Pearson in 2017, and Osmo in 2019. Last year, the company bought up coding training platform Whitehat Jr for $300 million. 

  • Byju’s onboards Dhimant Vyas as chief creative director

    Byju’s onboards Dhimant Vyas as chief creative director

    NEW DELHI: School learning app and ed-tech platform Byju's has brought on Dhimant Vyas as chief creative director. In his new role, Vyas will be responsible for leading ideation and creation of quality interactive learning experiences for our students across products. His focus will be to build and further enhance the company's offerings.

    Byju's chief content officer Vinay MR said, “We are excited to have Dhimant onboard with us to lead creative ideation and strategy. Dhimant is an industry veteran and will be bringing his unique creative talents to further our creative vision to build world-class learning experiences for children.”

    Dhimant Vyas said, “I am excited to be part of the team that’s redefining the way children learn in India. I am joining Byju's at a time when online education is making quality learning possible and accessible to children seamlessly especially in these challenging times. I look forward to being a driving force in delivering unique learning experiences through my creative work.”

    Prior to joining Byju's, Vyas was leading art direction at Zynga Games India. He has worked on the famous Shaun the Sheep series and Purple and Brown with multiple Academy Award-winning animation studios. An alumnus of the National Institute of Design (NID), his previous work includes the title animation sequence for the highly acclaimed Hindi feature film Taare Zameen Par. He has worked with brands like BBC, UNICEF, FCB ULKA, Zee TV, MTV, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon in the past. He has a vast experience in creating animation using various techniques like stop motion, 2D classical, cut out, material, sand, pixilation and flash.

  • #Throwback2020: The year ed-tech platforms thrived

    #Throwback2020: The year ed-tech platforms thrived

    NEW DELHI: 2020 threw up education headlines that were previously unimaginable. Closure of schools and university campuses across the country, cancellation of exams and ensuing protests, resumption of exams and protests thereof, and learning going truly digital – it was a year of chaos and disruption for education. With the threat of the virus showing no signs of abating, educational institutes remained shut and students moved in front of the screens. The obvious beneficiaries of this unprecedented surge in e-learning were ed-tech start-ups, which lapped up the opportunity to jumpstart their growth.

    Several education technology enterprises which had been vying to establish a steady financial footing managed to secure their place in the market as the pandemic ensured people remain indoors. Riding high on the digital wave with rapid adoption of mobile phones and penetration of the internet, these platforms emerged as convenient options for students to continue learning within the four walls of their homes.

    According to the Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA) and PGA Labs data, Indian ed-tech start-ups witnessed a total investment of $2.22 billion in 2020 as compared to $553 million in 2019. Byju’s raised the most capital of $1.35 billion, followed by Unacademy which raked in $264 million this year.

    Behind the boom in e-learning

    Credited as India’s first ed-tech unicorn, Byju’s emerged as a key player in the e-learning space. The start-up had already been in robust growth mode after its collaboration with Disney last year to make learning fun for young students. It gained a surge in its usage after the government enforced a 21-day lockdown in March. Students reeling under increasing academic pressure began exploring digital alternatives as they navigated new rules of online schooling.

    Another Bengaluru based start-up, Unacademy, which began its journey almost a decade ago on YouTube, also recorded as many as 30 million registered users as demand for e-learning soared. Students aspiring to qualify in various competitive examinations, turned to the platform after traditional coaching centres also faced closure.

    Data states that Indian online education platforms have raised $4 billion in the past five years (2016-2020) and Byju’s Unacademy and Vedantu have led the charts and attracted the highest funding.

    Coursera, Toppr, upGrad, meritnation, Getmyuni, Brainlyand Flintbox were other major players that held significant market share in the country in 2020. With their live online classes, course videos and personalised doubt-clearing sessions with online tutors, the platforms managed to make inroads into student groups.

    Apps like eduTinker helped teachers – used to chalkboards and notebooks – to navigate the unfamiliar space and overcome challenges posed by new digital tools. These apps are not only aids to school education but also prepare students to pick up new skills. Among these extracurricular activities, coding is currently hot property thanks to White Hat Jr, which was recently acquired by Byju’s. Vendatu, too, launched Super Coders to provide coding lessons.

    Apart from children, youngsters too migrated online to learn new skills or explore hobbies. Universities also began offering free online courses for those committed to learn digitally. Ed-tech start-up Yellow Class did just that. It offers a chance to children to get into new hobbies like drawing or dancing. Some platforms like Elearnmarkets.com and StockEdge.com also provide certified courses in the stock markets and other financial market courses for small investors.

    Long road ahead

    A recent report by IVCA pegs India’s education market at$117 billion with around 360 million learners in 2019-20.

    While 2020 may prove to be a watershed year for e-education in India, there is still a long road ahead. Online platforms have proved to be convenient options when institutions were shut, but their real test would be when schools reopen and online sessions are replaced with actual classrooms.  There are still no clearly defined benchmarks of how efficiently students learn in these virtual classrooms. But, going ahead, ed-tech start-ups could collaborate with schools and other educational institutes in a way that ultimately benefits students in the post-pandemic world.

    How well these ed-tech platforms would complement the traditional system of education in India in the time to come is a story waiting to be told. Nonetheless, the groundwork has been laid in 2020.

  • Delhi HC asks Aniruddha Malpani to remove posts critical of WhiteHat Jr

    Delhi HC asks Aniruddha Malpani to remove posts critical of WhiteHat Jr

    NEW DELHI: Controversy’s favourite child WhiteHat Jr got major relief in its defamation lawsuit case against the angel investor Aniruddha Malpani, who in a series of social media posts had accused the ed-tech platform of hiring people with no coding skills, as the Delhi high court asked the accused to take down selected social media posts. The HC has also passed an interim order restricting him from posting, publishing or sharing any content derogatory or deprecatory of WhiteHat Jr or its content or management.

    The court has also sought Malpani’s written response in the matter by 14 January 2021. 

    WhiteHat Jr, an edtech platform that offers online coding classes to school-going students had filed a $1.9 million case against Malpani alleging that he was defaming the company to promote his own start-up.  

    Malpani was earlier banned by LinkedIn for criticising WhiteHat Jr’s parent company Byju’s.

    Earlier in the week, the Delhi HC had also asked software engineer Pradeep Poonia to restrict his criticism of the quality of teachers at WhiteHat Jr on social media platforms and pull down specific content, in another defamation case filed by the ed-tech company. In this $2.6 million lawsuit, WhiteHat Jr had alleged that Poonia was in violation of the Trade Marks Act of 199, The Copyright Act of 1957 and Code of Civil Procedure of 1908.

    Poonia was also pulled up for sharing the name and numbers of lawyers who have filed the suit in the public domain, and hacking or unauthorisedly accessing the internal communication platform Slack and displaying communication between WhiteHat Jr’s employees on his YouTube channel. Poonia was also restrained from downloading any curriculum from WhiteHat Jr and circulating it to third parties. 

    Founded in 2018 by Karan Bajaj, WhiteHat Jr has been beset with wrangles since it was bought out by Byju's in August this year for $300 million in an all-cash deal. Byju's acquired the platform with a clear objective to drive its ever-widening reach in the ed-tech space in the country. The acquisition led to the fastest exit story at this size in the Indian start-up ecosystem. At the time of signing the deal, WhiteHat Jr claimed it had achieved an annual revenue run rate of $150 million. It had over 5,000 teachers and was dedicating one instructor to each student. Byju's then decided to make significant investments into the start-up and help it expand beyond Indian shores. 

    The tides of fortunes turned in WhiteHat Jr’s favour with the Covid2019 pandemic, as students were unable to attend school and many parents enrolled their children in the platform's coding program to help them learn more about technology.

    Post-acquisition, WhiteHat Jr has aggressively worked towards gaining new users. It launched an ATL campaign that ran through IPL 13, creating a buzz for the brand. The film showcased multiple investors and recruiters fighting to hire a young kid who had developed an app. The positioning of the brand was very clear – that it helps children learn more about technology from a very young age. 

    The campaign was supported with a strong digital and social media strategy. However, the brand had to face the ire of consumers on the digital front as it was continuously bombarding them with ads. On another occasion, it used the images of global leaders such as Sundar Pichai, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and others to attract users, by urging them to be the next bigwig in Silicon Valley. Some of its ads were also in question and in October this year, the Advertising Standards Council of India (Asci) asked WhiteHat Jr to pull down several ads for making misleading claims.

    The ed-tech platform that teaches coding to children has definitely created a strong dent in the Indian start-up ecosystem and made inroads in the country – but not without more than its fair share of legal and PR hassles on the way. 

  • Byju’s launches #KeepLearning with TOI to empower parents, students, & teachers

    Byju’s launches #KeepLearning with TOI to empower parents, students, & teachers

    NEW DELHI: Times of India in association with BYJU’S has launched #KeepLearning campaign. The initiative intends to empower students, parents and educators with information and the best practices of online learning.

    With a key focus towards offering innovative, engaging and informative content for young students, the campaign platform will also offer guidance via discussions and one-on-one chats for parents and educators.

    The campaign will further delve into various topics, pertaining to education, curated by luminaries and stalwarts from the education sector including Artsphere & Soulsphere founder & director Anubha Doshi, Nehru World School director Arunabh Singh, Ophthalmologist Navin Sakhuja, Max Super Specialty Hospital  director and head Sameer Malhotra, Springdays School & Fountainhead Leaders co-founder Ramya Rajendiran among others.

    Some of the key topics include, new education policy, curriculum during Covid2019 and beyond, Blackboard to a digital screen, screen time – how much is too much, and many more.

    #KeepLearning is a holistic one stop platform solving all thee-learning pain-points faced by teachers, parents and students in today’s time. The platform includes: – 

    ·         Content on Online Education: Almost all topics related to online learning are covered through variety of articles, listicles and videos on the website

    ·         Discussion with Subject Matter Experts: There will be series of Webinars and Panel Discussions with subject matter experts on various topics throughout the 2 months duration of the initiative

    ·         One-on-One Connect with Experts: Registered users will also be able to connect one on one with key experts from multiple domains like Education System, Lifestyle Coaching, Child Psychology, Ophthalmology, Career Counselling etc. to answer their questions/queries

    ·         Discussion Forums: Registered users will also be able to participate in discussion forums on various topics and get perspective of top experts and other participants

    The campaign is also engaging with prominent celebrities and experts. The list includes known influencers like Rajiv Makhani, Anaita Shroff, Katerina Folkman, Momcom India and many others.

    TOI director brand Sanjeev Bhargava said, “The pandemic has brought about several drastic changes in the way we live our lives. One of the sectors that have seen sizeable change is the education sector, which has swiftly transitioned and adopted a digital approach. As a media platform, we have consistently been drivers of effective change in society, building and supporting movements; with this legacy, we bring an endeavour to empower parents and educators while providing them with the best guidance and knowledge in association with Byju’s. Bridging the gap between the knowledge of how to leverage the various digital learning tools that have been developed for us, #KeepLearning will help children, parents and educators alike.”

    TOI director response Sudha Natrajan has also shared a similar take on the initiative. She said, “Covid-19’s prevailing impact has forced people to live life indoors. The education sector has also moved from blackboards to digital screens, affecting the life of the students and forcing them to adapt to the digital way of learning. With TOI’s and Byju’s – #KeepLearning initiative, we aim to edify the parents and educators about how they can adapt to these changes and alsohelp students adapt to the changing times for a better future. By using different approaches and digital tools we intend to create a bridge between the parents and teachers to drive them towards a better future for the students.”

    Byju’s COO Mrinal Mohit said, “Learning and education are an important part of our lives. With the advancement of technologies and availability of several tools, it is necessary to expand the scope of learning at every stage and educate ourselves on how we can harness the presented opportunity. With the #KeepLearning campaign, in association with TOI, BYJU’S hopes to enlighten students, parents and educators about the ‘how-to’ of e-learning and bring about a change in the education sector.”

    Launched today, the campaign will garner a national presence via the media house’s extensive reach, further amplified digitally as well as with social media. Parents and children can visit the campaign microsite https://timeskeeplearning.com/ for a deep-dive into the world of e-learning.

  • News18 Network, BYJU’S get together for ‘Young Genius’

    News18 Network, BYJU’S get together for ‘Young Genius’

    NEW DELHI: News18 Network, has announced its partnership with edtech company BYJU’S to launch a national campaign for showcasing, recognizing and inspiring young geniuses in different fields across the country. The centerpiece of the campaign will be a weekly episodic show that will air on TV beginning in January and ending in March 2021. Each episode will feature child prodigies scouted and selected by the news network’s editorial team from across different fields such as academics, performing arts, technology, and sports.

    “We believe it is important to celebrate child prodigies who have through their gift, grit and determination attained mastery of their field at a very young age. Their stories will inspire children all over to follow their passion, work hard, and ultimately strive for excellence & creativity in their chosen field”, says Network18 CEO – Hindi news cluster Mayank Jain.

    “We want to be a platform that showcases prodigious talent in this country using the might of our television news network reaching 50cr+ viewers. We aim to institute ‘Young Genius’ as a multi-year platform that serves to inspire creativity, innovation and excellence in our future generation”, adds Jain.

    “At BYJU’S, we have always believed that every child is unique in their own way, talented in their own space and should be encouraged and inspired to learn at their own pace and style. And BYJU'S Young Genius aims to be a national platform that showcases spirited youngsters who have excelled in fields of their choosing – in turn inspiring children across India to pursue their passion and strive for excellence. This endeavour is in line with the underlying essence of BYJU’S vision – to encourage, motivate and spur children to keep learning and keep improving. This collaboration is poised to recognize some brilliant young talents of India, encourage many more to start their own journeys and is one more step in the right direction for BYJU’S to create holistic learning and growth experiences for children”, says BYJU'S VP – marketing Atit Mehta.