Edtech unicorn Vedantu has reported a year-on-year revenue growth of 21 percent for the FY ending March 2024 after witnessing a marginal dip in operational scale in FY23. The Bengaluru-based entity reduced its losses by 58 percent during the same period.
As per the consolidated financial statements sourced from the Registrar of Companies, Vedantu's revenue from operations surged to Rs185 crore in the last fiscal year from Rs153 crore in FY23.
Vedantu provides online classes for students belonging to grades 6 to 12, study material for grades 1 to 12, test preparation for JEE. Currently has the expansion of venturing into the kids coding space for ages 6-12 in May 2020 and has also launched other offline coaching centers in recent years.
Online tutoring is responsible for nearly 90 percent of Vedantu's total operating revenue, which went up by 11.4 percent to Rs 166 crore in FY24 as compared to Rs 149 crore in FY23. Book sales grew threefold to reach Rs 9 crore, while other revenue streams during FY24 comprised hostel fees and e-learning project income.
Furthermore, Vedantu is able to generate Rs 14 crore mainly from the non-operational income category such as interest on deposits, which brings its total revenue for FY24 to Rs 199 crore as compared to Rs 175 crore in FY23.
Similar to other edtech companies, employee benefits were the largest constituents at 47 percent of total spending of Vedantu. But after large layoffs in FY24, employee expenses declined by 43.8 percent to Rs. 176 crores in FY24. Vedantu's spend on advertisement and promotion also reduced by 70 percent to Rs. 23 crores in FY24.
Acquisition of Outside Teachers, Interns, Books, and Legal Services, as well as other overheads, were all counted toward the above, thereby totaling Rs 368 crore for the company, which indicates a 33.5 percent decline from that of FY23.
Vedantu's losses will lessen by 58 percent and will be reduced to Rs 157 crore for the FY24 year due to great cuts in employee benefits and advertising along with growth in scale of 20 percent. Its ROCE and EBIDDA margins improved to -37 percent and -51.8 percent, respectively. Its expense-to-earnings ratio stood at Rs 1.99 in the said fiscal. As per FY24 records, Vedantu's current assets stood at 174 crores, with cash and bank balances amounting to Rs 54 crore.
Vedantu has struggled to secure substantial external funding in recent years. In September, the firm increased Rs 19.25 crore through a mix of debt and equity from Stride Ventures, marking its first investment in over three years. To date, Vedantu has raised over USD 300 million from major investors, including Tiger Global, Coatue, GGV Capital, and Westbridge.
While edtech funding has reduced significantly compared to its peak, 2024 shows signs of recovery. As per startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, edtech firms have raised USD 613 million across 37 deals so far this year, surpassing the USD 456 million raised in 2023. However, this is still a steep drop from the USD 2.3 billion raised in 2022 and USD 5.8 billion in 2021.
