EXCLUSIVE: BYJU’S renewal rates stand at 86% – the founder of the $11 billion edtech startup shares how they cracked the code for repeat subscriptions

• Speaking at the Business Insider Global Trends Festival 2020, Byju Raveendran shared one of the biggest highlights for the edtech startup – they now have a 86% renewal rate.
• From 2015 till March 2020, BYJU’S had 45 million free users on the platform with 3.5 million paid subscribers – in the last few months, the number has gone up to 70 million users and 4.7 million subscribers.
• On the pricing front, Byju said the model would remain in a similar range over the next few years – aside from taking inflation into consideration.

The world’s most valued edtech startup, BYJU’S, has had a phenomenal run so far this year. With millions of new users, and over a billion dollars in funding — second only to the mammoth fundraise by Reliance Jio and Retail over the last six months — 2020 has added a lot to this online learning startup’s long list of wins. And the billionaire founder of the company, Byju Raveendran says there’s a lot more to come.

Speaking at the Business Insider Global Trends Festival 2020, Byju shared one of the biggest highlights for the edtech startup – they now have a 86% renewal rate. A clear sign that BYJU’S is now a household name and people are happy to sign up year after year.


70 million users, 4.7 million subscribers – How BYJU’S cracked the code

From 2015 till March 2020, BYJU’S had garnered 45 million free users on the platform, with 3.5 million paid subscribers. But in the last few months, the number has gone up to 70 million users and 4.7 million subscribers. “A lot of them are trying out online learning and that’s happening more than before. Unfortunately, it eventually took a crisis like this for people to try out online learning and all stakeholders, not just students,” said Byju.

The $11 billion edtech startup has wrapped up a five-year cycle of renewals and has closed the year with an 86% renewal rate. “That’s a clear validation of the effectiveness. Parents won’t spend again if the students are just using the platform, only if it is useful and beneficial they will renew,” he said.

And how do parents measure the outcome? Unfortunately, Byju says they look at the academic scores. “We have to show that result, otherwise it's very difficult to sustain,” he said.

Finding the balance between the love for learning and learning for exams

One of the most popular concepts at BYJU’S has been the interactive content they offer.

For the early age group they use movie-like videos, game-like interactions to ensure that students like what they are seeing. Through interactive content they have brought in engagement. But Byju says it is important to remember at the core of it all, they are an education company, so simplifying and visualizing concepts was essential. “We had a large set of free users, and those who get into the habit of learning from a screen, using it a few times a week, that’s who becomes a paid user. We understand how this works across age groups,” he said.

And that also explains the various acquisitions BYJU’S has done – to improve the range and kind of content offered on their platform.

Byju’s acquisition spree

The content they use on the platform impacts not just the students but also the entire ecosystem. “It is always easy to change the way students learn, it's a lot tougher to change the way teachers teach, institutions trying to go online and parents accepting this as a mainstream format of learning, not just as a replacement of school,” he said.

Will BYJU’S increase pricing?

Byju remains confident that their pricing is going to remain in a similar range – taking into consideration the natural inflation. “On an average, we have a ₹14,000-15,000 subscription per year, which varies from age group to age group,” he said.

But they are also experimenting with creating content in regional languages “possibly at half the price points.” “There is an opportunity to help a lot more students. We have not yet figured out the monetization part of it, although the product is ready, and we are already offering it to free users,” he said.