Divya Gokulnath

Divya was born in Bengaluru.[3] Her father is a nephrologist with Apollo Hospitals and her mother was a programming executive with the broadcasting company Doordarshan.[3][4] She is an only child of her parents.[5] As a child, her father taught her science.[6]

Divya completed her schooling at Frank Anthony Public School and pursued a Bachelor of Technology in Biotechnology from RV College of Engineering in Bengaluru.[3][7] After her graduation in 2007, she met Byju Raveendran,[8] who was teaching her GRE exam prep course.[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]

In 2011, Divya co-founded the online education platform Byju's with her husband.[11][12][13] At first, the company offered in-person education to support school education, and in 2015, launched an online app with video lessons.[11][14] Divya has appeared in videos as a teacher.[15] During the COVID-19 lockdown in India, Divya managed user experience, content, and brand marketing.[3] She led BYJU's free access to its educational content so students could continue learning from home during the pandemic.[16][17] Byju's reportedly added 13.5 million users in March and April 2020, for a total of 50 million,[11] and reached 70 million students by September 2020, and 4.5 million subscribers.[18]

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[19][20] and has been an advocate for mitigating gender pay gap in India.[21] She has also spoken with Mint Startup Diaries about challenges for women entrepreneurs,[22] and co-written an opinion article with Byju Raveendran in Vogue India about educational technology in India.[23]

In March 2022, Gokulnath was appointed as the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry's EdTech Taskforce Chair.[24]

Divya is married to Byju Raveendran.[34] As of April 2020, Divya lived with eleven other family members, including their young son[35] and then their second child was born near the beginning of 2021.[36] Before the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked long days at the office, but during the lockdown, began working from home.[3][35][37] In 2021, she told The Indian Express her typical day includes "juggling son's online classes, meetings, recording video lessons and spending time with newborn."[36]