Edtech startup upGrad reports 113 pc rise in gross revenue in FY19
The edtech startup is now looking at Rs 250 crore gross revenue in FY20, and is strengthening its senior leadership team with key new appointments.
Online education venture upGrad has announced it has witnessed a 113 percent jump in its gross revenue from Rs 57 crore in FY18 to Rs 121 crore in FY19.
The edtech startup said it has a learner base of over 300,000 users, and the platform has seen a strong uptake for its educational courses from working professionals as well as corporates.
upGrad said it consolidated its position as a leading company in the online learning space with the aqui-hire of Acadview’s team during FY19.
Over the past one year, it also launched several skill building and learning programmes for college students, helping them to take the first step towards building their careers. It then partnered with HDFC Life Insurance to introduce a comprehensive Post Graduate Programme in Life Insurance, with 100 percent job guarantee on successful course completion. It also introduced a fully online Master’s Degree Programme in Data Science in India in collaboration with Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU).
The company widened its communication reach with marketing spends of over Rs 100 crore to launch a marketing campaign and roped in actor Vicky Kaushal as the brand ambassador, it said in the statement.
upGrad is now expecting to cross Rs 250 crore gross revenue in FY20, with a significant contribution from its college business, which is expected to grow 15 times, the company said in astatement.
Team upGrad
Started in early 2015 by Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, Phalgun Kompalli, and Ravijot Chugh, upGrad has introduced a total 35 programmes in areas such as data science, technology, and management, and has a paid learner base of 13,000. It has also partnered with academic institutes like BITS Pilani, IIIT-Bangalore, Cambridge Judge Business School of Executive Education, and MICA to develop its course content. upGrad has collaborations with companies like Google, Flipkart, Gramener, and Oyo for practical learning experience.
Ronnie Screwvala and Mayank Kumar, Co-founders, upGrad, said,
"Over the last two years upGrad has grown over 100 percent every year, which further establishes the scope and opportunity for digital learning in India. upGrad has developed a holistic digital education experience for working professionals and college students for upskilling and reskilling. We will continue this growth momentum and are particularly excited with the potential in the college segment.”
Currently, upGrad has a strength of over 400 employees, and plans to add 100+ employees in FY 20. It said that it has been strengthening its senior leadership team with an aim to capitalise on the potential opportunities in the online education sector.
Some of these executives include Abhishek Arora as Chief Business Officer – Consumer Business, he comes with 16 years of experience across corporate and retail banking, consumer internet / ecommerce and fintech. The company has also brought in Kushal Dev Kashyap from Byju’s to head Direct Sales, and with 18 years of experience, Tanya Ahluwalia has joined as the Vice President - Brand Marketing, and Rahul Karthikeyan, who was earlier with Wavemaker, has joined as the Head of Digital Marketing.