Divya_Gokulnath

Divya Gokulnath

Divya Gokulnath

Co-founder and Director of BYJU's


Divya Gokulnath (born 1987) is an Indian entrepreneur and educator who is the co-founder and director of Byju's, an educational technology company founded in 2012 in Bangalore, India.[1][2]

Quick Facts Born, Nationality ...

Early life and education

Divya was born and raised in Bengaluru.[3] Her father worked as a nephrologist at Apollo Hospitals, while her mother was a programming executive with Doordarshan an Indian Government broadcasting company.[3][4] Divya is the only child of her parents.[5] During her childhood, Divya's father taught her science.[6]

Divya, a graduate of Frank Anthony Public School, went on to receive a Bachelor of Technology in Biotechnology from RV College of Engineering.[3][7]

After her graduation in 2007, she met Byju Raveendran,[8] her instructor for GRE preparation.[3][9] Byju encouraged her to become a teacher due to her questions during breaks between the classes.[3]

Her career as a teacher began in 2008[3] at age 21.[10][7] In 2020, she told Fortune India, "It was an auditorium-style class with 100 students. They were just a couple of years younger than me so to look mature I wore a saree to the class."[3] During her teaching career, she taught mathematics, English, and logical reasoning.[3]

Career

In 2011, Divya and her husband co-founded Byju's, an online education platform initially providing in-person education to support school learning, followed by an online app that features video lessons.[11][12][13] With her expertise, Divya has served as a teacher in some educational videos.[14]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Divya took charge of user experience, content, and brand marketing to ensure uninterrupted learning for students.[3] As a result of these efforts, Byju's educational content was made available for free to students during the pandemic, leading to the addition of 13.5 million new users, bringing the total to 50 million by April 2020 and a total of 70 million students by September 2020, eventually garnering 4.5 million subscribers.[15][16][17]

According to Forbes, as of 2020, Divya, her husband Byju Raveendran and his brother Riju Raveendran, have a combined net worth of $3.05 billion.[12]

Divya also writes online, including about the future of education, parenting, and women's participation in STEM fields[18][19] and has been an advocate for mitigating the gender pay gap in India.[20] She has also spoken with Mint Startup Diaries about challenges for women entrepreneurs,[21] and co-written an opinion article with Byju Raveendran in Vogue India about educational technology in India.[22]

In March 2022, Divya Gokulnath was appointed as the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry's's EdTech Taskforce Chair.[23]

In February 2024, the Karnataka High Court stopped an attempt by some Byju's shareholders to remove leadership roles from Byju Raveendran, Divya Gokulnath, and Riju Raveendran, pending further court proceedings on 13 March.[24][25]

Honours and awards

More information Year, Title ...

Personal life

Divya is married to Byju Raveendran.[35] As of April 2020, Divya lived with eleven other family members, including their young son[36] and then their second child was born near the beginning of 2021.[37] Before the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked long days at the office, but during the lockdown, began working from home.[3][36][38]

In 2021, she told The Indian Express her typical day includes "juggling son's online classes, meetings, recording video lessons and spending time with a newborn."[37]


References

  1. "Most Powerful Women of 2020 by Fortune India". Fortune India.
  2. Chen, Benjamin; Garcia, David Cendon; Caldas, Amy Espinoza; Andrade, Beatriz; Nicholas, Kayla; Dhesi, Kiman; Costa, Luciana; Huemer, Sarah; Shekhawat, Vaidaansh (23 May 2021). Youth Economist Compilation: For the youth by the youths. Benjamin Chen. ISBN 979-8-5056-5091-2.
  3. Ghosh, Debojyoti (21 November 2020). "Byju's better half". Fortune India. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  4. STP Team (12 March 2021). "Who is Divya Gokulnath: All You Need to Know About Byju's Co-founder". SheThePeople.TV. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  5. Punj, Shwweta (30 March 2021). "Start-ups must take quick decisions: Byju's co-founder Divya Gokulnath". India Today. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  6. Kapani, Puneet (9 March 2021). "Divya Gokulnath: Educationist,Entrepreneur". Entrepreneur.
  7. Vedam, Venkatesh (24 January 2022). The Puffin Book of 100 Extraordinary Indians. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-93-5492-361-6.
  8. ET Now Digital (10 October 2020). "With a wealth of over Rs 11,300 crore, meet India's youngest billionaire". TimesNowNews. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  9. Rai, Saritha (20 June 2017). "Zuckerberg or Gates? Billionaires Try Opposite Paths for Online Education in India". Bloomberg. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  10. "Free access to BYJU's learning program sees 60% increase in online traffic". cnbctv18.com. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  11. "Edtech firm Byju's plans to expand its free education programme". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 10 February 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  12. Chand, Abhigyan (17 November 2020). "LinkedIn Top Voices 2020: India". LinkedIn News. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  13. Priya, Ratan (7 January 2021). "10 Female Leaders On LinkedIn Who Are A Must-Follow for 2021". SheThePeople.TV. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  14. Raveendran, Byju; Gokulnath, Divya (21 October 2020). "Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath on India's growth potential: "The power of education and technology can transform our country"". Vogue India. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  15. Mathew, George (23 February 2024). "Byju's shareholders vote to oust founder Raveendran, seek board revamp; company calls EGM invalid". The Indian Express. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  16. Kamdar, Shraddha (23 November 2020). "Femina Power List: BYJU'S Co-Founder Divya Gokulnath Is A Teacher at Heart". Femina. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  17. Watson, Rana Wehbe (14 September 2020). "Asia's Power Businesswomen 2020: Highlighting 25 Outstanding Leaders In Asia Pacific". Forbes. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  18. Ghosh, -Debojyoti. "Divya Gokulnath - Most Powerful Women in 2021 - Fortune India". www.fortuneindia.com. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  19. Phadnis, Shilpa (13 April 2020). "How Women Executives Run Businesses From Home". Times of India.
  20. Narayanan, Jayashree (8 March 2021). "'Take time out for yourself': Successful women entrepreneurs share mantra for work-life balance". The Indian Express. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  21. Alves, Glynda (18 June 2020). "Byju's co-founder has turned her bedroom into a work studio during WFH". The Economic Times - Panache. Retrieved 6 April 2021.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Divya_Gokulnath, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.