Edtech Startup Skill-Lync’s FY23 Loss Widens 1.9X YoY To INR 266 Cr, Revenue Surges 200%

Chennai-headquartered edtech startup Skill-Lync saw its standalone net loss widen over 90% to INR 266.4 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 140.1 Cr in the previous fiscal year, hurt by a sharp jump in several expense buckets.

Skill-Lync’s operating revenue jumped 200% to INR 139.6 Cr in the year under review from INR 46.5 Cr in FY22.

Founded in 2015 by SuryaNarayanan PaneerSelvam and Sarangarajan V Iyengar, the startup offers industry-relevant courses to engineering students by partnering with industry experts. It earns most of its revenue from the sale of services, including course fees.

Overall, Skill-Lync’s total revenue stood at INR 144.6 Cr in FY23 as against INR 46.8 Cr in the previous year.

The startup charges between INR 2.5 Lakh and INR 3.5 Lakh for its courses, which have a duration of three to nine months.

It is pertinent to note that the startup was recently in the headlines for the wrong reasons. Inc42 reported last year that several Skill-Lync students alleged that the platform showcased them as working professionals to avail loans. Several students also alleged that they failed to find a job even after completing Skill-Lync’s course, while many faced harassment from loan agencies for failing to pay loan EMIs.

Meanwhile, Skill-Lync’s consolidated net loss stood at INR 276.4 Cr in FY23. This also included the performance of its subsidiary Qift Solutech Private Limited. However, the startup said in its financials filing that Qift ceased to be its subsidiary after the closure of FY23. 

“Directors of the Company are putting their sincere efforts to make the Company a profitable venture,” the filing added. 

Zooming Into Expenses

Skill-Lync’s total expenses more than doubled to INR 411.1 Cr in FY23 from INR 184.8 Cr in the previous year, with employee costs alone contributing over 49% to the total spending.

Employee Cost: The startup’s employee benefit expenses jumped almost 200% to INR 203.2 Cr in the reported fiscal from INR 69.4 Cr in FY22.

In that, Skill-Lync spent INR 189.3 Cr towards salaries and wages.

Advertising Promotional Expenses: The edtech platform spent INR 79.5 Cr in this bucket in FY23 as against INR 61.4 Cr in the year before.

Purchases of Stock-in-Trade: Skill-Lync’s spending in this bucket declined to INR 6.9 Cr in FY23 from INR 8.3 Cr in the previous year.

Rent: Rental expenses shot up almost 300% year-on-year in FY23 to INR 25.4 Cr.

It must be noted that Skill-Lync fired over 400 employees in a restructuring exercise in April last year, blaming the “recent macroeconomic conditions”. Inc42 also reported that the company closed its Delhi NCR office post that layoff round. 

It also laid off another 225 employees within a couple of months after undertaking the restructuring exercise.

Backed by Iron Pillar, Skill-Lync has raised over $18 Mn in funding till date.