Edtech Unicorn Vedantu’s FY22 Loss Widens To INR 696 Cr, Operating Revenue At INR 169 Cr

Vamsi Krishna-led edtech unicorn Vedantu’s loss widened to INR 696.2 Cr in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) from INR 616.2 Cr in FY21 as the growth in business led to a rise in the associated losses.

The Bengaluru-based startup’s revenue from operations jumped 1.8X to INR 168.9 Cr in FY22 from INR 93.6 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Total income, including other income, jumped 44% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 194.6 Cr in FY22. 

The startup ‘s last reported valuation was around $1 Bn, which translates to almost 37.5X of its total income. 

The edtech startup, founded in 2014 by Krishna, Anand Prakash, and Pulkit Jain, generates revenue primarily from the online coaching it provides for various modules catering to various categories of students. Vedantu’s revenue primarily comes from fixed fees paid by students either at the time of subscribing to the course or in installments over the course period.

It offers online live classes, doubt solving sessions, personal teachers, test series, and study materials for students of class 4 to 12. 

Meanwhile, its total expenses jumped 19% to INR 890.9 Cr from INR 748.1 Cr in FY21. Employee benefit expenses, which rose almost 20% YoY, accounted for a majority of the total expenses. Vedantu spent INR 489.2 Cr on employee expenses, over 55% of its total expenses. Employee benefit expenses mostly consist of employee salaries, PF contributions, gratuity, and other employee benefits.

It must be noted that Vedantu laid off over 1,100 employees in multiple rounds last year to cut costs. 

Apart from employee benefit expenses, Vedantu spent INR 181.8 Cr on advertisement, slightly higher than INR 176.1 Cr in FY21. EBITDA margin stood at -351.7% in FY22 as against -448.09% in FY21. 

Last year the startup claimed that over 1 Mn students attend its LIVE classes every month. 

In October last year, Vedantu acquired a majority stake in Karnataka-based test preparation platform Deeksha for around $40 Mn to strengthen its offline presence. 

Vedantu has raised around $300 Mn in multiple rounds till date. The startup entered the coveted unicorn club in September 2021 after raising $100 Mn in Series E round from Singapore-based, Temasek-backed private equity firm ABC World Asia, with participation from existing investors Coatue Management, Tiger Global, GGV Capital, and WestBridge. 

Among other edtech unicorns, Unacademy reported a net loss of INR 2,848 Cr in FY22, while its revenue from operations jumped to INR 719 Cr. upGrad recorded a net loss of INR 627 Cr while clocking sales of INR 679 Cr, and Gurugram-based LEAD posted a loss of INR 397 Cr and generated INR 133.2 Cr in sales. Meanwhile, BYJU’S is yet to file its financial statements for FY22.