Ronnie Screwvala-Led upGrad’s Losses Widens By 2.6X To INR 211 Cr In FY21

Ronnie Screwvala-led edtech unicorn upGrad has seen its loss widen by almost 2.6X in FY21.  The startup posted a consolidated loss after tax of INR 211 Cr in FY21, a 167.8% rise from INR 78.8 Cr it witnessed in FY20. 

However, it has seen its revenue from operations to grow almost by 2X in the financial year ending on March 31, 2021, i.e., FY21.

upGrad has posted a consolidated revenue worth INR 302 Cr from its operations, a 86% rise from INR 162.3 Cr it recorded in FY20. 

The total revenue from operations includes revenue from sale of products, and total revenue from operations other than finance.

The Temasek-backed edtech startup posted INR 60 Lakh under its ‘other income’ segment in FY21, thus taking the total revenue of upGrad in FY21 to INR 302.6 Cr, a significant rise from INR 162.5 Cr it clocked in FY20. 

The startup has also seen its total expenses rise by 2X in the last financial year. The Bengaluru-based startup posted a total expenses of INR 513.7 Cr in FY21, a 112.8% rise from INR 241.4 Cr upGrad witnessed in FY20.

Among its expenses, it has mostly spent money on advertisement and promotional activities worth INR 205 Cr. Advertisement and promotion come under ‘Other Expenses’ which was INR 247.6 Cr in FY21, a stellar rise from INR 116.9 Cr it spent in FY20. In FY20, upGrad has spent INR 94 Cr for advertising and promotional activities. 

The other major chunk of expenditure of upGrad was under employee benefit expense which was INR 161.5 Cr in FY21. This was a 79.6% rise from INR 89.9 Cr, UpGrad has spent for the same in FY20. 

Employee benefit expense comprises salaries and wages of employees, remuneration of directors, contribution to provident fund, ESOP, gratuity and others. 

The startup in FY21 has spent INR 7.6 Cr for expenses on employee stock option scheme and employee stock purchase plan. In FY20, upGrad did not spend any amount on the same. upGrad has spent INR 147.6 Cr for salaries and wages of its employees in FY21.

Founded in 2015 by Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, Phalgun Kompalli and Ravijot Chugh, upGrad offers higher education courses in collaboration with various universities. It claims to have a million users globally, of which 45,000 are paid students. 

It became the third edtech startup to enter the unicorn club in India after BYJU’s and Unacademy. The startup had raised $185 Mn from Temasek, International Finance Corporation to cross the billion dollar valuation mark. 

Last year in November, Inc42 exclusively reported that upGrad has increased its employee stock option program (ESOPs) pool by 28% from its existing 17.25 Lakh ESOP to 22.25 Lakh options.

The startup earlier this month acquired Mumbai-based Work Better for an undisclosed amount to strengthen its enterprise learning and development (L&D) offerings. 

upGrad had earlier acquired Talentedge, Rekrut India and The Gate Academy (TGA).

Note: We at Inc42 take our ethics very seriously. More information about it can be found here.