Unacademy spent Rs 112 Cr to earn about Rs 12 Cr

After BYJU’s and Toppr, Unacademy has turned out to be the most exciting education tech startup along with new entrants Doubtnut, Classplus and Gradeup. The past 12 months have been momentous for the four-year-old firm in several ways.

Unacademy raised $55 million Series D round with a valuation crossing $200 million. It also announced the acquisition of WiFi Study and brought Flipkart Group’s CEO, Kalyan Krishnamurthy, as an investor. 

Meanwhile, the company has grown its revenue and spent more in FY19. According to the annual financial report filed by the company with MCA, Unacademy earned Rs 11.66 crore in revenue from operations during FY19. 

Importantly, its entire revenue has come through the paid subscription service. The company recorded a 6.6X jump in revenue during FY19 as compared to Rs 1.76 crore in FY18. It earned around 46.5% of its total income, i.e. Rs 10.23 crore, through interest on deposits and movement of current financial assets.

Unacademy has increased its talent pool during FY19 and spent 3.9X more on employee benefits expenses. It spent Rs 42.81 crore in the last fiscal in contrast to Rs 10.92 crore in FY18.

Besides, the company also incurred an expense of Rs 68.43 crore in other operational expenses leading to a 290% increase in total expenses, which grew from Rs 28.82 crore in FY18 to Rs 112.17 crore in FY19. The spending spree drove net operating cash outflows to register a 3X increase from Rs 21.35 crore in FY18 to Rs 85.98 crore in FY 19.

And this then is the startup story we are now all too familiar with: the wide gap between spending and earning. In this case, spending Rs 112 crore to earn about Rs 12 crore.

As far as losses are concerned, Unacademy registered a 3.82X jump to Rs 90.27 crore in FY19 from Rs 23.58 crore in FY18. 

With over 500% increase in revenue, Unacademy’s financial performance in FY19 has undoubtedly improved. Since all revenue has come from subscription, it’s a good sign for the overall ecosystem and its flagship product - Unacademy Plus.

While the company had officially launched Unacademy Plus in May this year, it seems like the firm had started selling subscription sometime in FY18. The company competes with the likes of BYJU’s, Toppr, Vedantu amongst a few others.