CollegeDekho posts Rs 151 Cr loss in FY25, revenue remains flat

CollegeDekho, a higher education services and college admissions platform, saw its growth stall in the fiscal year ended March 2025. Despite the flat topline, the company’s losses grew 19% year-on-year to Rs 151 crore in FY25.

CollegeDekho’s revenue from operations increased marginally to Rs 221.6 crore in FY25 from Rs 215.6 crore in FY24, its consolidated financial statements sourced from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) shows.

Founded in 2015, CollegeDekho operates a marketplace for college admissions and higher education services, offering student counselling and lead generation, university partnerships, education loans, test preparation, and study abroad services.

The company claims to have counseled over 1.2 million students and enrolled more than 200,000 students through partnerships with over 2,000 colleges. Collegedekho has 7 brands, including GetMyUni, ImaginXP, PrepBytes, Get GIS, IELTSMaterial, Unipto Education, and Assured.

However, the company has not disclosed a detailed revenue breakdown. It primarily earns from commissions on admissions, marketing services, promotion and advertising, online coaching, and other technology solutions. It also earned Rs 6 crore in interest and investment income lifted its overall revenue to Rs 227.7 crore in FY25.

On the expense front, advertising and promotional spending emerged as the largest cost centre for the firm, accounting for 33% of total expenses and standing at Rs 126 crore in FY25. This cost increased 31% year-on-year, reflecting the company’s heightened focus on brand visibility and customer acquisition.

Meanwhile, the firm reduced its employee benefit expenses by 25% to Rs 117 crore in FY25 from Rs 156 crore in FY24, Notably, this expense includes Rs 7.4 crore in ESOP costs, which are non-cash in nature. CollegeDekho’s outsourcing and subcontracting costs doubled in the last fiscal to Rs 31.5 crore. 

Its legal, rent, provisions for doubtful debts, travel, and other operating costs together contributed to an 8.6% rise in the company’s total expenditure, which increased to Rs 378.8 crore in FY25 from Rs 348.9 crore in FY24.

Overall, flat revenue combined with higher spending on advertising and outsourcing pushed the company’s losses up 19% to Rs 151 crore in the previous fiscal, compared with a loss of Rs 127 crore in FY24. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin worsened to -154.93% and -56.9%, respectively. On a unit level, CollegDekho spent Rs 1.71 to earn a rupee of operating revenue. Its current assets were recorded at Rs 176 crore, with cash and bank balances of Rs 37 crore at the end of FY25.

CollegeDekho has secured over $68 million in total funding, including its most recent debt funding of Rs 40 crore ($4.7 million) from debt marketplace Recur Club in April last year. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, CarDekho is the largest external stakeholder, followed by Winter Capital.

It competes with Blume Ventures–backed Leverage Edu, which reported over Rs 180 crore in revenue in FY25, and bootstrapped Collegedunia, which posted Rs 192 crore in operating revenue in the fiscal year ended March 2024 and was profitable.