Messi's Namaste: Byju's looks to cash in on Football star's popularity to reach youth

On the heels of Argentina's historic FIFA World Cup victory, Lionel Messi, one of the world's most popular sportspersons and the captain and architect of the team's success, has posted 'Namaste India' on his Instagram to the delight of his millions of followers. The post carries a series of pictures showing Messi wearing BYJU'S jersey to promote the cause of equitable and accessible education through the BYJU'S Education For All (EFA) foundation.

BYJU'S, the leading edtech company in India, had announced Messi as the global brand ambassador of EFA, its social initiative, a month before the World Cup began in November. Messi is known to promote the cause of equal education and also serves as a global brand ambassador of UNICEF.

“Children are our future,” Messi wrote, adding that no matter where they live, every child deserves an equal opportunity to learn and grow. Commending BYJU'S and its groundbreaking work in championing inclusive tech-driven education for all, Messi took the message of equal, equitable, and quality education for all to his 400 million+ social media followers, and marked his welcome into the BYJU'S family. His post garnered nearly 10 million, or 1 crore, likes in the first ten hours, making it one of his most popular endorsement posts.

Under EFA, BYJU'S provides its products free-of-cost to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Based on the four pillars of accessibility, inclusivity, efficacy, and social equity, EFA is now enabling 5.5 million children to learn seamlessly regardless of their locational, physical or financial constraints. 

It is a first-of-its-kind multi-stakeholder initiative that reaches 400+ districts in 28 states through 175+ NGO partners and multiple state departments and district officials. Nearly half of the EFA beneficiaries are girls and several others are from sensitive areas, including border regions and naxal-impacted districts. 

Nine out of 10 EFA students use BYJU’S regularly, which is leading to progressively better learning outcomes for them. BYJU'S Education for All has a Social Return on Investment (SROI) of 2, which means every dollar invested in BYJU'S generates a social value of two dollars.

“We are honoured to have Lionel Messi join us in our mission to provide accessible education for all children, regardless of their background or location,” said Divya Gokulnath, co-founder of BYJU'S. “Messi's passionate advocacy for education and children aligns perfectly with our own values at BYJU'S, and we look forward to working with him to expand the reach and impact of our Education for All initiative.”

“With Messi’s famed assist, we are now set to double the reach and impact of EFA in the next two years,” she added. 

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