Edtech startup Great Learning's annual revenue jumps 150 pc as coronavirus boosts demand

Edtech startup Great Learning said its annual revenue rose 150 percent to Rs 325 crore, as the coronavirus lockdown boosted demand for its learning courses aimed at equipping professionals with new skills.

The Gurugram-based startup, founded by Mohan Lakhamraju, former India head of Tiger Global, said it saw a rising demand for upskilling in digital competencies like data science, analytics, AI, machine learning, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and digital business over the last year, and especially during the lockdown.

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The company saw more than 90 percent course completion rate in FY'20, with two out of every three learners seeing a career transition within six months of completing its programmes, and getting an average salary hike of 45 percent.

The seven-year-old edtech startup had over 25,000 users from 85 countries on its platform across its post graduate programme in FY20. Great Learning claimed that customer satisfaction rates remained over 90 percent across 25 million hours of learning courses.

“We have seen significant growth over the last year with professionals increasingly warming to the idea of continuous and lifelong learning. However, the way the market has opened for us over the last few months is unprecedented,” Mohan, who is also the company's chief executive officer, said.

The startup said it had already started the new fiscal year with a bang, registering a 5x growth in users on its platform due to increased interest in learning from professionals and college graduates who had to stay at home due to the COVID-19 lockdowns.

In March, the startup launched the 'Great Learning Academy' - a free online resource that offers over 100 industry courses focused on skills like analytics, programming, data science, AI, ML, cloud computing, cybersecurity, digital marketing, and business finance.

“We expect FY21 to be a turning point for online higher education in India...” Mohan said.

The coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing lockdown has proved to fortuitous for edtech companies in India as it has led to higher demand from the marketplace. BYJU'S said it recorded a revenue of Rs 2,800 crore in FY20, and Rs 350 crore just in the month of April. Unacademy and Vedantu reported a nearly 80 percent growth in revenue for the month of April.