Divya Gokulnath

Divya Gokulnath
Born	1987 Bengaluru, India
Occupation(s)	Businesswoman, educator
Known for	Co-founder and director of Byju's

Divya Gokulnath (born 1987) is an Indian businesswoman and educator, serving as co-founder and director of Byju's, an educational technology enterprise founded in 2011 in Bangalore, India.

Early life and education

Born and raised in Bengaluru, Divya grew up in a family where her father practiced as a nephrologist at Apollo Hospitals, while her mother was employed as a programming executive at Doordarshan, India’s national broadcaster. She is their sole offspring. Her father played a significant role in nurturing her early fascination with science.

Divya completed her schooling at Frank Anthony Public School and obtained a Bachelor of Technology degree specializing in Biotechnology from RV College of Engineering.

After graduating in 2007, she encountered Byju Raveendran, her GRE tutor, who recognized her inquisitive nature during breaks and motivated her to pursue a career in teaching.

At the age of 21, in 2008, Divya embarked on her teaching profession, initially delivering large-scale classes centered on mathematics, English, and logical reasoning.

Career

Divya co-established Byju's with her husband in 2011, initially offering face-to-face educational support before transitioning to a video-based learning application. She also featured as an instructor in certain educational video content.

Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, she spearheaded initiatives related to user experience, content development, and brand marketing to ensure continuous learning opportunities. Byju's provided complimentary access to its materials during this period, attracting an additional 13.5 million users and reaching a total of 70 million students by September 2020, including 4.5 million paid subscribers.

According to Forbes data from 2020, Divya together with her husband Byju Raveendran and his brother Riju Raveendran held a combined net worth estimated at $3.05 billion.

In addition to her entrepreneurial activities, Divya authors pieces on education, parenting, and the involvement of women in STEM disciplines. She advocates for closing the gender wage disparity in India and has addressed challenges encountered by women entrepreneurs. Alongside Byju Raveendran, she co-wrote an article for Vogue India discussing the impact of educational technology on India's development.

In March 2022, Divya was named Chairperson of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry EdTech Taskforce.

In February 2024, the Karnataka High Court intervened to prevent certain shareholders of Byju's from removing leadership positions held by Byju Raveendran, Divya Gokulnath, and Riju Raveendran until further judicial review.

Honours and awards

Year	Title	Reference
2019	LinkedIn Top Voices: India
2020
2020	Business Today Most Powerful Women in Indian Business
2020	Femina Power List
2020	Forbes Asia's Power Businesswomen
2020	Fortune India Most Powerful Women
2021	Fortune 50 Most Powerful Women In Business
2021	Kotak Private Banking's Hurun Leading Wealthy Women List for 2021
2022	Fortune India 40 under 40
2022	The Indian Express' ExpressAWE

Personal life

Divya is married to Byju Raveendran. By April 2020, she was residing with eleven relatives, including their young son, and they had a second child in early 2021. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, she maintained extended hours at the workplace but transitioned to remote work during the lockdown periods. In 2021, she detailed a typical day involving managing her son's virtual schooling, attending meetings, producing video lessons, and looking after a newborn.