Unacademy is no exception because edtech companies have had a problematic current fiscal year. The SoftBank-backed company entered offline learning in FY23 after laying off staff, cutting costs, and leaving the K-12 market.
Unacademy has managed to surpass the Rs 700 crore milestone in FY22, though the effects of these activities and exercises will be known at the end of the current fiscal year.
According to the company’s annual financial records filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Unacademy’s operating revenue increased by 80.7% to Rs 719 crore during the financial year ending in March 2022 from Rs 398 crore recorded in FY21.
The Bengaluru-based business mostly makes money from student course subscription fees. From Rs 390 crore in the previous fiscal year to Rs 705.5 crore in FY22, revenue from this sector has increased by 81%. During FY22, it earned an additional Rs 13.7 crore from selling educational supplies.
Unacademy earned a total of Rs 844 crore
During FY22, Unacademy earned a total of Rs 844 crore in revenue, including Rs 125 crore in non-operating income, primarily from interest on fixed deposits, gains from mutual funds, and other financial investments.
Unacademy, which claims to have over 1,000 educators on its digital learning platform, offers courses for competitive exams such as NEET UG, IIT JEE, GATE, and UPSC CSE, for individuals who are unaware.
The platform previously offered K–12 online courses, but it reportedly shut down that vertical in March of this year to concentrate on exam preparation.
Employee benefits emerged as the highest cost center in expenditures, accounting for over 48% of the total. In FY22, this expense increased 136.8% to Rs 1,771 crore, which included Rs 1,140 crore in ESOP costs that were paid in cash and equity. About 31% of their overall expenses were for ESOPs.
Unacademy announced an ESOP buyback for $10.5 million in September of last year, and its ESOP pool is currently valued at almost $400 million.
In FY22, payments to educators came in at number two regarding cost centers, making up 22% of all spending. In FY22, this cost rose by 50.5% to Rs 814 crore, whereas advertising and promotional costs rose by 33.6% to Rs 549 crore over the same period. The company states that it has a lifetime educator base of 91,000 people.
The firm spent a total of Rs 319 crore on IT
Unacademy spent Rs 319 crore on IT (including payment gateway expenses), legal, and professional services.
Unacademy’s overall costs increased by 82.4% to Rs 3,703 crore in FY22 from Rs 2,030 crore in FY21 due to an increase in employee benefits and marketing costs. Additionally, its operating cash outflows increased 68.3% to Rs 1,452 crore during the year.
Unacademy’s losses increased by over 85% to Rs 2,848 crore in FY22 from Rs 1,537 crore in FY21, following the company’s sales.
In terms of ratios, during the fiscal year ending March 2022, Unacademy’s EBITDA margin and ROCE declined by 389 and 100 BPS, respectively, to -324.46% and -81.38%. A rupee of operating revenue required the edtech unicorn to spend Rs 5.15 per unit.
The corporation has implemented many cost-cutting initiatives for the current fiscal year (FY23), including ending its IPL sponsorship as of the following year. According to Unacademy’s chief executive, Gaurav Munjal, the business has Rs 2,800 crore in its bank account and is on schedule to launch its initial public offering (IPO) by 2024.
Byju’s, a competitor of Unacademy, recently released its FY21 statistics, showing operating revenue of Rs 2,280 crore and a loss of Rs 4,564 crore. Although its FY22 data still need to be submitted, the company had hoped to reach an income of Rs 10,000 crore in the previous fiscal year.
