<ul><li>Byju’s emphasised that the acquisition of <keyword id="6437224" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tynker" source="Orion">Tynker</keyword> would help the company accelerate its market presence in the US.<br /></li><li>Tynker is used by over 60 million users and 100,000 schools in 150 countries, the company claims. <br /></li><li>Prior to this, Byju’s had acquired <keyword id="8080458" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="whitehat-jr" source="Orion">WhiteHat Jr</keyword> last year, which was folded into Byju’s Future School offering.</li></ul>Edtech giant Byju’s has made another move towards gaining control of the North American market, with the acquisition of US-based coding-for-kids platform Tynker.<br /><br />Interestingly, Byju’s had acquired Indian <keyword id="8345659" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="coding-for-kids" source="Orion">coding for kids</keyword> platform WhiteHat Jr for $350 million. The company had folded the three-year-old company into its Byju’s Future School offering to offer its services in the North American market. <br /><br />WhiteHat Jr had also expanded its services from coding-for-kids to maths, English and vocational classes. The company’s founder Karan Bajaj was leading the Byju’s Future School until last month, before he quit and Trupti Mukker took over. Mukker was Byju’s head of customer experience and delivery prior to this.<br /><br />Another interesting fact about the acquisition of Tynker is that it is the third startup in Byju’s portfolio that offers coding classes for kids. The company had earlier acquired rival Toppr, which offers coding classes in the form of Toppr Codr.<br /><br />Byju’s, in its press note, emphasised that the acquisition of Tynker would help the company accelerate its market presence in the US as the platform is used by over 60 million users and 100,000 schools in 150 countries.<br /><br />Founded in 2012 by Krishna Vedati, Srinivas Mandyam and Kelvin Chong, Tynker has raised over $10 million to date from Reach Capital, 500 Startups, New Ground Ventures, Relay Ventures and Cervin Ventures. <br /><br />“Joining forces with Tynker will unlock the ability for us to bring imagination to life for hundreds of millions of students through coding… Our goal is to ignite a love for programming in children globally and we feel strongly that Tynker's creative coding platform and approach to making programming fun and intuitive for kids will get us there even faster,” Byju Raveendran, founder and chief executive of Byju’s, said. <br /><br />The Bengaluru-based edtech firm had also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/byjus-last-two-acquisitions-and-a-deal-with-disney-reveal-its-american-dream/articleshow/84783749.cms">acquired </a>US-based Epic and Whodat, Singapore-based Great Learning.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO<br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/after-selling-their-previous-startup-to-quikr-zefo-founders-are-building-an-oyo-for-hospitals/articleshow/86256238.cms">After selling their previous startup to Quikr, Zefo founders are building an OYO for hospitals</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/tiger-global-backed-jobs-platform-apna-is-among-fastest-unicorns-of-india/articleshow/86251461.cms">Two-year-old Apna is among the fastest unicorns of India, despite making no revenue</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/telecom-auto-tata-group-and-other-top-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-september-16/articleshow/86250470.cms">Airtel, Vodafone Idea, Tata group and other top stocks to watch out for on September 16</a><br />

Byju’s acquires yet another coding-for-kids startup, this time an American one

New Delhi, Edtech major Byju's has appointed <keyword id="17995856" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="upgrads-former-chief" source="Orion">upGrad's former chief</keyword> <keyword id="237838" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="arjun-mohan" source="Orion">Arjun Mohan</keyword> as its CEO for international business, according to sources. <keyword id="1702989" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="byju-raveendran" source="Orion">Byju Raveendran</keyword> will remain the group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and <keyword id="4125846" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mrinal-mohit" source="Orion">Mrinal Mohit</keyword> will continue to head the India business, the sources told PTI. <br /><br /> Byju's declined to comment on the development. <br /><br /> Mohan was with Byju's for 11 years as its Chief Business Officer before joining Ronnie Screwvala-promoted upGrad as its India CEO. <br /><br /> He resigned from upGrad in December last year. <br /><br /> Byju's operates in the US, Canada, Mexico, Australia, the UK, Brazil, and the Middle East, with users in about 100 countries, according to the company website. <br /><br /> It owns US-based reading platform Epic and coding site Tynker, acquired for USD 500 million and USD 200 million, respectively. <br /><br /> Other overseas acquisitions of Byju's include Singapore-based Great Learning for around USD 600 million and Austria's mathematics operator GeoGebra for USD 100 million. <br /><br /> The development comes as the Bengaluru-headquartered edtech company saw the resignation of three board members - GV Ravishankar, MD of early-backer Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India), Russell Dreisenstock of Prosus, and Chan Zuckerberg's Vivian Wu. <br /><br /> Raveendran, during a shareholders' call acknowledged the resignation of the board members but said the company has not accepted them yet, and information about their resignation was leaked prematurely. <br /><br /> Byju's in June laid off about 1,000 employees as part of its restructuring process, at a time when the company got involved in a legal battle with lenders in the US for USD 1-billion term loan B. <br /><br /> The company's auditor, Deloitte Haskins and Sells, had also resigned over delays in a new Chief Financial Officer taking charge. <br /><br /> In April, the company faced searches by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at its three premises in Bengaluru.

Byju's brings former Grad chief Arjun Mohan onboard as CEO for international business

<ul><li><keyword id="191862" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sridhar-vembu" source="Orion">Sridhar Vembu</keyword> is the founder of India’s one of the biggest <keyword id="6361043" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="software" source="Orion">software</keyword> bootstrapped startups, <keyword id="265415" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zoho" source="Orion">Zoho</keyword> Corp.</li><li>Vembu highlighted that he consciously avoided programming and computer science because he did not have any interest in it.</li><li>Vembu was 26 when he first started <keyword id="1574956" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="coding" source="Orion">coding</keyword> and founded Zoho at the age of 28.</li><li> Several startups in India have been pulled up for aggressive marketing campaigns to promote their <keyword id="8345659" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="coding-for-kids" source="Orion">coding for kids</keyword> products.</li></ul>As coding for 6-12 year olds is on a growth trajectory, <keyword id="841822" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-software" source="Orion">Indian software</keyword> icon Sridhar Vembu has emphasised that late blooming is fine too. <br /><br />Vembu, founder and chief executive (CEO) of India’s one of the biggest software bootstrapped startups, Zoho Corp, highlighted that he consciously avoided programming and computer science — the hottest subjects even back in his days — because he was not interested. <br /><br />The Padma Shri awardee (India’s fourth highest civilian honour) said that he was 26 when he wrote his first code and it was only by the age of 30 that he had developed deeper thoughts about software. <br /><br />            <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Text"><cdata><![CDATA[<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Late blooming is OK!<br/><br/>All through my IIT and Princeton days I consciously avoided programming and Computer Science, the hottest subject even then, except that I was not interested. I was 26 when I wrote any code at all. I was 30 when I developed deeper thoughts about software.</p>&mdash; Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) <a href="https://twitter.com/svembu/status/1437576837253664770?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 14, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>]]></cdata></div><br />Platforms like <keyword id="8080458" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="whitehat-jr" source="Orion">WhiteHat Jr</keyword> and later Lido Learning have also been pulled up for creating aggressive marketing campaigns based on the fear of missing out. Later, both the companies redacted the ads. <br /><br />            <div type="image" title="An Indian software icon says don&amp;#39;t push kids need not learn coding early" msid="86190620" hostid="261"></div><br />Currently, startups working in the segment are Tinker Coders, Camp K12, StayQrious, Coding Ninjas and CodeYoung. Byju’s alone has two such startups in its portfolio — WhiteHat Jr and Toppr that also offers Toppr Codr. It is now in talks to acquire a US-based company Tynker.<br /><br />Vembu’s recent statement just adds to the debate that kids should not be pushed into coding at such an early stage. Over the last couple of years, with the advent of startups like Whitehat Jr, an increasing number of parents are pushing kids to learn how to code. <br /><br />The recent disruptions led by new technology has added to the demand for an early start in learning. However, there are many who believe this fear of missing out may be unwarranted. <br /><br />Vembu seems to be one of them. He is an influential voice in the technology space ⁠— also member of the National Security Advisory Board led by Ajit Doval ⁠— who founded Zoho Corp when he was about 28 years old. The company is currently in its 25th year of operations and has never raised money from investors despite being profitable.<br /><br />Zoho currently has over 50 apps in nearly every major business category, including sales, marketing, customer support, accounting and back office operations. It also offers an array of productivity and collaboration tools.<br /><br /><strong>ALSO WATCH: </strong>Sridhar Vembu explains why he is not interested in taking Zoho for an IPO.<br />        <div type="Video" msid="86195015" hostid="261" title="Sridhar Vembu explains why he is not interested in taking Zoho for an IPO" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=86195015"></div><br />The company is headquartered in Chennai in India and has offices in several countries — United States, Japan, China, Singapore, Mexico, Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates. <br /><br />The company claims to have more than 60 million users around the world, across hundreds of thousands of companies. It employs over 9,000 individuals.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO<br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/lenskart-vision-fund-will-invest-20-million-in-eye-technology-startups/articleshow/86188885.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Lenskart is setting aside $20 million for technologies like instant glasses, spectacles for the colourblind and other breakthrough ideas</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/apple-wants-you-to-update-your-iphone-mac-and-apple-watch-after-it-fixed-a-software-flaw-that-let-hackers-spy-without-anyone-clicking-a-link/articleshow/86185768.cms">Apple wants you to update your iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch after it fixed a software flaw that let hackers spy without anyone clicking a link</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/facebook-has-a-secret-system-granting-5-8-million-high-profile-users-immunity-from-its-rules-a-new-report-says/articleshow/86177677.cms">Facebook quietly lets 5.8 million politicians and celebrities get special enforcement of its rules, report says</a><br />

An Indian software icon says kids need not learn coding early

<ul><li>Byju’s has raised $296 million in a round led by Oxshott Venture Fund.</li><li>The development comes about a week after Byju’s raised a $150 million, at a valuation of $16.8 billion.</li><li>Both these transactions are a part of the company’s Series F round.</li></ul>Edtech giant Byju’s, which raised over a billion dollars last year to fulfil<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/byjus-last-two-acquisitions-and-a-deal-with-disney-reveal-its-american-dream/articleshow/84783749.cms"> its American dream</a>, has raised an additional ₹2,200 crore ($296 million) funding. With this, the company has raised $1.29 billion in 2021 so far.<br /><table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"><colgroup></colgroup><col /><col /><col /><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Amount in Series F<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Investors<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Month<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$460 million<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">MC Global Edtech Investments Holdings, B Capital, TIGA India, TCDS India, Arison Holdings<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">March<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$350 million<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">UBS Group, Zoom founder Eric Yuan, Blackstone, Abu Dhabi sovereign fund ADQ and Phoenix Rising–Beacon Holdings<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">June<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$50 million<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">IFFL, Maitri Edtech<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">June <br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$150 million<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Asmaan Venture, Mirae Asset and ARK Ncore<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">August<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$296 million<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Oxshott Venture Fund, Edelweiss, IIFL, Verition Fund, XN Exponent Holdings<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">September <br /><br /></td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table><br />According to the ministry of corporate affairs filings, the latest tranche is a part of ongoing Series F round, which is led by Oxshott Venture Fund. Five other investors participated in the round as well.<br /><br />The decade-old Byju’s is allocating 77,2174 Series F compulsory convertible cumulative preference shares (CCPS) at a premium of ₹ 2,85,062.<br /><br /><table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"><colgroup></colgroup><col /><col /><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Investor<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Investment<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Oxshott Venture Fund<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;"> ₹1,200 Crore<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Edelweiss<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹345 Crore<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">IIFL<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹111 Crore<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Verition Fund<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹147 Crore<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">XN Exponent Holdings<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹150 Crore<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table><br />The latest transaction was first <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/byjus-bags-another-150-million-to-fund-its-acquisition-spree/articleshow/86027937.cms">reported</a> by Inc42. <br /><br />The development comes about a week after<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/byjus-bags-another-150-million-to-fund-its-acquisition-spree/articleshow/86027937.cms"> Byju’s raised a $150 million</a>, at a valuation of $16.8 billion. <br /><br />Byju’s declined to comment on the latest infusion.<br /><br />According to media reports published last month, Byju’s has been in talks to raise $1.5 billion at a valuation of over $21 billion valuation. The latest investment is expected to be the first tranche of the larger billion dollar round.<br /><br />Founded in 2011 by Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath, Byju’s is the highest valued edtech startup in the world. It is also the highest valued Indian startup at the moment.<br /><br />The company’s operations were largely based out of India until last year, but after onboarding 100 million users here it decided to venture into the international arena. Thus began the edtech giant’s massive acquisition spree. <br /><br />Byju’s has acquired about one startup every month of 2021, in order to fuel its international expansion and strengthen its core operations.<br /><br /><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/aj6Qp8fjRDRPYL_K3T1u1b9Me2ZHyhgixC_ts-SKNNhFBWQflcOvuSjc6YLV2_AKWT9FpwG_oevgfC0MFq1n3yFDssGZ6QlqZeZ41hBpbAxGladNIe63x3zS7GR3P-v_JHBIeIgy=s0" /><br /><br />Anita Kishore, the head of strategy at <keyword id="6384897" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="byjus" source="Orion">Byju's</keyword>, told Business Insider that international markets would make a third of the company’s revenue in the next three to four years. The USA would be dominating the international market for Byju's.<br /><br />          <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Anita Kishore, the strategy officer at <a href="https://twitter.com/BYJUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BYJUS</a>&#39;s talks about why they chose US as a key market. <br/><br/>Read more here: <a href="https://t.co/21ymEHRgQk">https://t.co/21ymEHRgQk</a> <a href="https://t.co/GzwHXpgzhc">pic.twitter.com/GzwHXpgzhc</a></p>&mdash; Business Insider India🇮🇳 (@BiIndia) <a href="https://twitter.com/BiIndia/status/1417813718591627271?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>]]></cdata></div><br /><strong>Why focus on American market?<br /></strong><br />Byju’s is planning to focus on the American market, as it is the biggest edtech market outside of India. Besides, the company feels that the fact most of their products are available in English is going to be another added advantage. <br /><br />"The other advantage that US marketing gives us is the fact that it is English speaking, right? A lot of our products, while you know, they need to be customised, and so on. Given the language is English, we are able to actually scale those products well, with teams in India. Hence, the US has been a key market for us,” Kishore added in a previous conversation with Business Insider.<br /><br />This year, Byju’s has acquired US-based Epic, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/byjus-acquires-us-based-coding-for-kids-startup-tynker/articleshow/86261427.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Tynker</a> and Whodat, along with Singapore-based Great Learning. The company made its first American acquisition in 2019, with educational games maker Osmo.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO</strong><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/irctc-hindustan-aeronautics-zydus-wellness-and-5-others-hold-dominant-positions-in-the-market/slidelist/86736871.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">These 8 valuable companies rule their sectors with a huge piece of the pie</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/billionaires-and-world-leaders-including-putin-and-king-abdullah-stashed-vast-amounts-of-money-in-secretive-offshore-systems-leaked-documents-find/articleshow/86738076.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Billionaires and world leaders, including Putin and King Abdullah, stashed vast amounts of money in secretive offshore systems, leaked documents find</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/south-dakota-now-rivals-offshore-tax-havens-for-financial-secrecy-pandora-papers-say/articleshow/86741033.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">South Dakota now rivals offshore tax havens for financial secrecy, Pandora Papers say</a><br />

Byju’s has raised $1.3 billion this year so far in pursuit of its American dream

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/57697d8f52bcd028008ca97d-831/appleclass.jpg" alt="Apple camp" data-mce-source="Getty/Andrew Burton" data-link="http://www.gettyimages.com/search/2/image?agreementtypes=pa,ed&amp;artist=andrew%20burton&amp;family=editorial&amp;sort=newest&amp;excludenudity=true#license" /><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/search/2/image?agreementtypes=pa,ed&amp;artist=andrew%20burton&amp;family=editorial&amp;sort=newest&amp;excludenudity=true#license">Getty/Andrew Burton</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>This summer, Apple will introduce an addition to its usual Apple Camp program: a coding course for children ages 8 to 12.</p><p>Besides its usual interactive storytelling and iMovie classes, kids will have the option to enroll in <span>Coding Games and Programming Robots. The class will use Tynker's software to teach the basics of coding using blocks that can animate characters and move robots. In May, Tynker raised $7.1 million in funding.</span></p><p><span>Apple's coding camp is yet another initiative in the company's mission to teach younger generations coding skills.</span></p><p><span>At this year's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-wwdc-announcements-full-list-2016-6">Worldwide Developer's Conference</a>, Apple introduced the iPad app Swift Playgrounds, a game-based app with coding challenges specifically targeted at kids.</span></p><p><span>Coding camp sessions will be held for 90-minute sessions throughout the last week of July and are free to the public. You can read more <a href="https://concierge.apple.com/camp/choosestore/en_US">over at Apple.</a></span></p>      <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ultra-ergonomic-keyboard-top-choice-power-programmers-kinesis-advantage-pro-2016-5">This unconventional keyboard is a must-have for power-programmers</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="l3NGp1MzE6jg8HnXY7rWAsU-Czw1T2Qb" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'l3NGp1MzE6jg8HnXY7rWAsU-Czw1T2Qb',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

Apple is now offering a summer class that will teach kids how to code

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56998a59e6183e1c008b9f94-2000-1500/mathandcoding-nikhil cheerla-vineet kosaraju.jpg" alt="MathandCoding, Nikhil Cheerla, Vineet Kosaraju" data-mce-source="MathandCoding" data-mce-caption="MathandCoding founders Nikhil Cheerla (left), Vineet Kosaraju" /><p class="source"><span>MathandCoding</span></p><p class="caption">MathandCoding founders Nikhil Cheerla (left), Vineet Kosaraju</p></div><p></p></div></div>While other high school kids spend their weekends playing sports, video games and hanging with friends, two Palo Alto teenagers spend their free time teaching other kids to code.</p><p>Vineet Kosaraju, a 17-year-old high school senior, and Nikhil Cheerla, a 16-year-old high school junior, have started something of a movement with their organization <a href="http://www.mathandcoding.org/">MathAndCoding.org</a>.</p><p>MathAndCoding is an organization dedicated to hands-on coding classes for kids, grade school through high school, exclusively taught by other kid coders, often the kids that learned to code themselves through the program.</p><p>Since they did their first class of about 20 grade-school kids at the Mountain View, California library a year and a half ago, they have now taught 1,100 kids how to code in the Bay Area via over 200 classes taught at 18 libraries. And their students have created more than 1,600 projects, they tell Business Insider.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56998b90e6183ea4008ba0a3-1998-1499/mathandcoding1.jpg" alt="MathandCoding, kids programming, children" data-mce-source="MathandCoding.org" data-mce-caption="These kids are taking a MathandCoding class taught by other kids." data-link="http://www.mathandcoding.org/" /><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.mathandcoding.org/">MathandCoding.org</a></span></p><p class="caption">These kids are taking a MathandCoding class taught by other kids.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Going nationwide</h2><p>And now, the movement is starting to go nationwide, where Kosaraju and Cheerla are teaching kids in places like Texas and North Carolina how to teach these kid coding classes, with the curriculum these two kids have created and posted to their MathAndCoding website.</p><p>"We have 31 volunteers teachers now," <span>Cheerla says, nearly all of them are graduates from MathAndCoding classes, who then went on and studied and did more projects on their own.</span></p><p>It all started as more-or-less a friendly argument/challenge between the two boys, who have known each other since they were little.</p><p>Both of them learned to code in middle school, taught by their parents. All four of their parents work in the tech industry as hardware engineers. (Kosaraju's mom and Cheerla's dad used to work for the same big tech company. That's how they became family friends).</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56998c7ee6183ea4008ba0a8-2702-2026/mathandcoding2.jpg" alt="programmers, girls, kids, computers" data-mce-source="MathandCoding.org" data-mce-caption="These kids are learning to become teachers to teach other kids how to code." data-link="http://www.mathandcoding.org/" /><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.mathandcoding.org/">MathandCoding.org</a></span></p><p class="caption">These kids are learning to become teachers to teach other kids how to code.</p></div><p></p></div></div>They were discussing that these days "people learn programming without the support of other people. They learn a bunch of stuff online at sites like Kahn Academy and Codeacademy," Kosaraju tells us. </p><p>Cheerla believed that online learning was just as good as the taught-by-a-parent method. Kosaraju was less sure. So they spent an evening doing a bunch of coding classes at Code.org and concluded they were both right ... and both wrong.</p><p>It was pretty easy to learn coding online, especially if you already had some skills. But there was also something to be said for having a support group, people to talk to about your project in person, ask questions and just help you get started.</p><p>So, they decided to do something about it. They called various nearby libraries to see who would let them teach a class to kids. Only one said yes, in the city of Mountain View. </p><p>They posted a few flyers at the library and nearly 20 grade school kids showed up. (Parents were not allowed to stay in the class.) They taught the kids how to use kid-coding site <a href="https://www.tynker.com/">Tynker</a>.</p><p>"After that first class, Nikhil and I were incredibly excited. We had successfully taught a class and helped about 20 students get their first venture into coding," he said. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56998d3ec08a8017028ba19b-5333-4000/mathandcoding3.jpg" alt="kids, computers, learning, programming" data-mce-source="MathandCoding" data-mce-caption="The MathandCoding classes have been mostly in Silicon Valley but the movement is starting to go national." /><p class="source"><span>MathandCoding</span></p><p class="caption">The MathandCoding classes have been mostly in Silicon Valley but the movement is starting to go national.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Learning to code and making friends</h2><p>And it snowballed from there. "After they take our intro classes, they were wanting more advanced classes."</p><p>So the two teens developed a more advanced curriculum that now extends across multiple fields, visual coding, Java, web programming (HTML/CSS, JS), Python, and mobile apps.</p><p>They even created a board game called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/MathAndCoding-org-CodingFarmers/dp/B00FSRD9VW">CodingFarmers </a>that teaches little kids about programming, raising the money with <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1233191773/codingfarmers">a Kickstarter campaign</a>.</p><p>The best part is that the program is working like they imagined. These kids coders are making friends with other kid coders and creating communities to help each other as they learn.</p><p>"They stay in touch. They volunteer. It's kids teaching kids," <span>Cheerla says.</span></p><p>Here's <a href="http://www.mathandcoding.org/contact-us.html">where you can contact Vineet Kosaraju and Nikhil Cheerla</a> for information about starting MathAndCoding.org classes in your area. </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/usa-freedom-kids-perform-donald-trump-rally-florida-children-background-2016-1">Here's the story behind the incredible performance by 3 young children at a Donald Trump rally</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Qxbmg3MDE6ItY1kPZKPDkNhRTenz3hR2" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'Qxbmg3MDE6ItY1kPZKPDkNhRTenz3hR2',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

You Searched For "tynker" and got 6 results

Byju’s acquires yet another coding-for-kids startup, this time an American one

Kritti Bhalla

Byju's brings former Grad chief Arjun Mohan onboard as CEO for international business

PTI

An Indian software icon says kids need not learn coding early

Kritti Bhalla

Byju’s has raised $1.3 billion this year so far in pursuit of its American dream

Kritti Bhalla

Apple is now offering a summer class that will teach kids how to code

Julia Naftulin

Two Valley teen programmers have started a movement where kids teach other kids how to code

Julie Bort