Educator Turned Entrepreneur

The world’s largest edtech company and India’s most loved school learning app, BYJU’S was co-founded by Divya Gokulnath in 2011. A University rank holder, Biotechnology topper, and a passionate teacher, Gokulnath encourages intrapreneurship to keep learning and innovating. A supporter of sustainable growth, she firmly believes, “it isn’t the gender that defines a business but the skill and will to do good.” 

After completing her engineering degree in Bengaluru, she started preparing for competitive exams and joined Byju Raveendran’s classes as his student. Eventually, Divya and Byju Raveendran, got married and also started a new company together.  

In 2015, BYJU’s launched its flagship product called The Learning App to provide online coaching to fourth to twelfth class students. It took four years to create this mobile application and it has become the most preferred education app for students across age groups. 

In fact, in late 2020, BYJU’S launched the social impact initiative ‘Education For All’ that aims to democratise education for some of the most remote geographies and underserved communities in India. Till now, it has impacted over 3.4 million and by 2025, they are hopeful to reach 10 million children. For Gokulnath, the journey has just begun and the sector is full of opportunities to disrupt, influence and create value. 

In her own words, “I strongly believe that failures are just stepping stones; fail fast, win big, and don’t take no for an answer.” Undoubtedly, her hardships led to recognition in the field. Gokulnath strikes a perfect work-life balance by being a doting mother to her sons and by indulging in her passion for singing. Her mother has been a driving force and a role model for her while growing up. 

She finds helping students explore the academic world an extremely rewarding experience. Since then there has been no looking back and today, she considers herself a teacher first and entrepreneur second. She feels grateful and fortunate to have been able to impact the lives of students around the world.