Edtech decacorn BYJU’S takes a jab at celeb-Led courses

India’s most-valued startup BYJU’S is trying out a new programme called BYJU’S Xcel for class 4-10 students. 

BYJU’S Xcel is a year-long series of free live masterclasses focused on science, technology, and life skills. 

Xcel sessions are led by experts and notable achievers in their respective fields with the aim to equip students with practical knowledge, the company said.

The next session of BYJU’S Xcel is with India’s first chess Grandmaster, Viswanathan Anand, on the 16th of October on the topic ‘Think like a Champion'.

The startup has already had sessions with personalities such as former cricketer VVS Laxman, actor Parineeti Chopra, cricketer Mithali Raj and badminton player Srikanth Kidambi. This series is run by the BYJU’S in-house team. 

“These sessions primarily focus on STEAM concepts and so far we’ve had 9 sessions that have covered topics like drones, animatronics, rocket science, sensors, and photography; and life-skill sessions on topics like developing an all-rounder attitude, breaking boundaries, and having a winning mindset to name a few,” a BYJU’S spokesperson told YourStory. 

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Earlier this year edtech unicorn Unacademy launched a new subscription, Unacademy Icons, which focused on bringing together professionals and experts from different fields to curate lessons on their field of expertise, providing learners from across the country, access and opportunity to learn from them.

The soft-bank backed startup roped in Sachin Tendulkar for the same. 

A model where celebrities take sessions to talk about their area of expertise has been made popular by San Francisco-based edtech startup MasterClass.

Edtech startup Classplus too roped in former cricketer Sourav Ganguly to launch a new initiative which allows educators and content creators to create a video ad and submit it on the Classplus platform. On submission, the ad would then feature Ganguly, the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), as their brand ambassador.