Mark Zuckerberg-backed edutech startup is now a Harvard case study

Education technology startup Byju's, backed by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), is now a Harvard case study.

It is only the fourth Indian startup to make it to the hallowed Harvard Business Publishing platform, after Flipkart (India's largest online retailer), Paytm (India's biggest mobile wallet) and GOQii (India's leading health and fitness startup).

The case titled 'Byju's – The Learning App' will outline the startup's unique usage of content, media and technology that has enabled it to create a compelling product for students.

Byju's now has over 400,000 annual paid subscribers, and over 8 million downloads so far. It also claims that the average time spent on the app is a handsome 40 minutes.

What makes Byju's — a two-year-old company — unique?

In the words of its founder, Byju Raveedran, “Learning through technology triggers changes in how students consume content. It offers them newer ways to explore concepts and initiate learning on their own."

Perhaps that is what drew the attention of Mark Zuckerberg as well.

Last September as the CZI led a $50 million investment in Byju's, the Facebook founder wrote, "I'm optimistic about personalized learning and the difference it can make for students everywhere."

"That's why it's a major focus of our education efforts, and why we're looking forward to working with companies like BYJU's to get these tools into the hands of more students and teachers around the world," he added.

Not only Zuckerberg, Byju's drew an undisclosed investment from World Bank's International Finance Corporation too. With these dollars, the startup plans to roll out new products and expand into the US and the UK.

Meanwhile, the Harvard case study, which has been authored by John Jong-Hyun Kim, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, and Rachna Tahilyani, associate director, Harvard Business School India Research Center, is available for teaching purposes within and outside Harvard.

"It is very humbling to have our brand story as a Harvard Business School case study. This further encourages us to innovate and build learning programs to revolutionize education and create a whole new segment of self-paced learners globally,” said founder Raveendran in a statement.