‘We felt that with Byju’s, we can redefine competitive coaching’

Aakash Chaudhry, in his most detailed interview since the acquisition of Aakash Educational Services by Byju’s, speaks about why he said yes to the deal, why he never considered joining forces with Unacademy, and the hybrid future of edtech.

I have been chasing Aakash Chaudhry for a meeting since December. You see, when the pandemic forced a nationwide lockdown last year, many people, including us at The Morning Context, began writing eulogies to brick-and-mortar coaching centres. 

With an increasing number of parents beginning to accept the online mode of learning as a legitimate tool, valuations of education technology startups went through the roof, and the fear among their offline counterparts was palpable. But as the year drew to a close, it was evident that offline institutes were not going anywhere. In fact, the way forward for education companies would …

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Pradip K. Saha

Pradip is a co-founder at The Morning Context and leads our newsletters vertical. He has previously worked at The Ken as a staff writer, at Mint as an assistant features editor and the Deccan Chronicle as a copy editor. He works with a slew of expert newsletter writers across subjects and domains. His own writing spans the gig economy, farmers caught in the crossfire of technology, global warming and parents trapped in the edtech wave. Some of his best stories have come at the intersection of technology and human endeavour.

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pradip@mailtmc.com

Delhi