Edtech startup Simplilearn raised $45 million in FY22 and the funding helped the San Francisco and Bengaluru-based firm to hack over two-fold growth in its operating scale in the last two years. Its revenue blew to Rs 684 in the fiscal year (FY23) from Rs 341 crore in FY21.
When it comes to year-on-year growth, Simplilearn recorded a 50.33% spike in operating revenue in FY23 to Rs 684 crore, its consolidated financial statements sourced from the Registrar of Companies show.
Financials FY23
Simplilearn is a digital upskilling platform which provides training in cyber security, cloud computing, project management, digital marketing, and data science, among others.
The 13-year-old company derives its revenues by providing comprehensive learning programs (online and offline). Income from hosting services, live and virtual classes, and the sale of examination vouchers were the key revenue drivers for Simplilearn in FY23.
Similar to other edtech platforms, advertising cum promotional costs accounted for 32% of the overall expenditure. This cost grew by 29.1% to Rs 302 crore in FY23 from Rs 234 crore in FY22. Its employee benefits costs increased by 42.4% during the previous fiscal (FY23).
Expenses Breakdown
https://thekredible.com/company/simplilearn/financials
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https://thekredible.com/company/simplilearn/financials
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- Cost of service
- Employee benefits
- Subscriptions membership fees
- Advertising promotional expenses
- Legal professional charges
- Others
Simplilearn’s cost of services, subscription membership, legal-professional, information technology, and other overheads took its overall expenditure to Rs 944 crore in FY23 as compared to Rs 643 crore in FY22.
Check TheKredible for the detailed expense breakup.
With around a 47% surge in the total expenditure, the losses for the edtech firm increased by 36.31% to Rs 244 crore during FY23 as compared to Rs 179 crore in FY22. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin improved to -73% and -29% respectively. On a unit level, Simplilearn spent Rs 1.38 to earn a rupee in the last fiscal year.
FY22-FY23
| FY22 | FY23 |
| EBITDA Margin | -35% | -29% |
| Expense/₹ of Op Revenue | ₹1.41 | ₹1.38 |
| ROCE | -104% | -73% |
The company has raised over $80 million to date and was valued at around $601 million in its Series E round led by GSV Ventures with participation from Clal Insurance, and DisruptAD, ADQ’s venture platform. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Blackstone is the largest external stakeholder with 61.41% followed by GSV Ventures and ADQ. Its founder and Chief Executive Officer Krishna Kumar commands 12.01% of the company.
In yet another case of an edtech that seems to be finding complicated ways to teach, rather than practice what it promises, Simplilearn is nowhere close to a solution to its challenges yet. The risks of competition from other edtechs, or even the old cohort of established offline institutions remains high, and is already unfolding in many ways. This is not the place to provide ready solutions, but we can say this. The road ahead is anything but simple for this edtech.
