Edtech unicorn Eruditus aims to cruise past $1B revenue mark in 5 years: CEO Ashwin Damera

Edtech unicorn Eruditushas set its sights on a bold trajectory, aiming to surpass $1 billion in revenue in the next five years, according to Co-founder and CEO Ashwin Damera.

This would potentially position the higher education-focused company as the highest-grossing Indian edtech firm. 

In the ongoing financial year (FY25), the Softbank-backed company is targeting a topline of about $520-$530 million.

“If we grow at 25% year on year, our $500 million revenue will triple to $1.5 billion in five years. Even at a lower growth rate of 20%, it would still increase 2.5 times, reaching $1.25 billion,” Damera told YourStory during a conversation, at the 2025 ASU+GSV & Emeritus Summit.

He explained that by expanding Eruditus’ model from 80 to 150 universities and increasing the number of courses per university from 9 to 15—growing the total from 700 courses—the business will naturally scale and grow.

“Exceptional businesses are really good compounders,” he noted. “If we can grow at even 15%-20% year on year for five years, the size of what we are building will double or more. That is good enough,” Damera added.

Speaking about EBITDA-level profitability, he noted that if the company's EBITDA increases from 3%-5% to 10%-12% within the next 12 months, it would mark significant growth. 

EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, is a measure of core operational efficiency.

He added that for a $1.5 billion business, achieving a 15% EBITDA would translate to approximately $250 million in earnings.

That EBITDA figure would exceed the funding Eruditus secured late last year. For context, the company raised $150 million in a funding round in October 2024.

In FY24, Eruditus’ revenue grew 15% to Rs 3,800 crore, with Rs 80 crore in EBITDA profit. The company reported Rs 3,322 crore in revenue the prior year, following its July-to-June fiscal year.

Clear path

Damera stated that after the pandemic-driven tailwinds, which brought in funding and boosted topline figures at a much faster pace, the company now has a “far more clear” path, focusing on growing primarily “organically,” with a very high bar for M&As.

According to him, the company wants to remain focused on higher education, with specific growth priorities within this segment.

“India is a major growth priority. Currently, our India business accounts for about 15% of what we do. Can I increase that to 40% over the next five years? Right now, enterprise makes up about 17%-18%. Can that grow to 25%-30%? These will be two key priorities moving forward,” he noted.

The company currently doesn’t operate in the study abroad space, but it plans to. Its model won’t follow the traditional brick-and-mortar approach; instead, it will combine online elements with on-campus experiences. According to Damera, this approach could potentially reduce the cost of pursuing these programmes by about 50%.

It plans to “supercharge” its revenue through new in-house initiatives like study abroad. “While it may still be a small segment within five years, by the fifth to tenth year, it will start to become meaningful. That’s how I see it,” Damera noted.

While it’s a newer concept, the hope is that by reducing costs while maintaining quality, the company can increase the number of Indian students studying abroad, especially at the undergraduate level.

The target market is large, according to Damera, and even a small shift in undergrad participation could lead to significant numbers. The product is still in development, with a planned launch within 6 to 12 months, he added.

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Edtech ecosystem

The Eruditus chief reflected on 15 years of being in business, and 8 years since securing institutional funding. Most firms with institutional funding experiment with multiple markets, products, and channels. According to him, over time, companies realise that only one or two of those initiatives succeeded, while the rest did not. As an entrepreneur, the key lesson is to focus on what works and double down on those efforts, while discarding the ones that don’t, he added.

Moreover, he noted that the current environment makes capital harder to secure for edtechs, which forces companies to focus. Even if entrepreneurs want to pursue multiple initiatives, the market is pushing them to prioritise just a few. 

This trend is evident across the industry as edtech companies focus on efficiency, profitability, and delivering meaningful value—setting the stage for sustainable growth that’s built to last.

Speaking about funding in the ecosystem, Damera noted that K-12 is struggling, with private equity avoiding it, and few early-stage investments happening. This is unfortunate, as K-12 is a crucial area for innovation in India, he added.

Test prep is dominated by players like PhysicsWallah and Allen, and there’s little early-stage investment left, as most companies in this space are profitable. The existing players will raise funds.

Higher education, particularly in skilling and niche areas like AI or coding, has potential for smaller investments, while study abroad remains a fragmented market with room for consolidation, Damera said, adding that there is also potential in niche areas like medical talent export, referring to upGrad Co-founder Mayank Kumar’s new venture.

Public market

New-age companies are pursuing public market listings (IPOs) for several key reasons: access to larger capital pools for growth, enhanced brand visibility and prestige, increased credibility and trust due to regulatory oversight, liquidity for early investors and employees.

With PhysicsWallah preparing for its IPO and others like upGrad and Eruditus hinting at potential IPOs, the question arises: Are they truly ready for it, given the chaos in the ecosystem?

"Two or three companies, such as PhysicsWallah, us, upGrad, and possibly Allen or another test prep company of significant scale, could emerge as key players in the next two to three years,” Damera said.

As for Eruditus, he’s unsure whether it will happen in two, four, or five years. However, the company is in the process of shifting its domicile from Singapore to India. 

“I hope that the education companies going public perform well. This means having a strong management team, a sound business model, and pricing the IPO in a way that leaves enough value on the table, creating a positive outcome for everyone,” Damera noted, adding, “Then for people like us and others who will come later, it will be better.”

He emphasised that, ideally, profitability is a strong signal to send to the market for education companies, something that they should focus on achieving. 

Damera said he would only want to go public when he is confident that the company can grow 25% year on year for the next five to ten years, with EBITDA around 10%, improving each year.

“I want to reach that scale before we go public. Maybe it’s two or three years from now, but I definitely want to be profitable by then,” he notes.