Mumbai: upGrad witnessed a 113% jump in its gross revenue from INR 57 crore in FY 18 to INR 121 crore in FY 19. The robust financials have helped upGrad to consolidate its position as the largest online higher education company in the country, basis gross revenue generated from Indian market in just 3 years of its operations.
With a learner base of over 300K, upGrad saw a strong uptake for its educational courses from working professionals as well as corporates. The company expects to cross INR 250 crore gross revenue in FY 20, with a significant contribution from its college business, which is expected to grow 15X.
Currently upGrad has a strength of over 400 employees and plans to add 100+ employees in FY 20. The company has strengthened its senior leadership team with an aim to capitalise on the potential opportunities in the online education sector. With over 16 years of experience across corporate & retail banking, consumer internet / e-commerce and fintech, Abhishek Arora has joined upGrad as the Chief Business Officer – Consumer Business. The company has also brought in Kushal Dev Kashyap from Byju’s to Head Direct Sales and with 18 years of experience Tanya Ahluwalia joins as Vice President – Brand Marketing. Rahul Karthikeyan, who was earlier with Wavemaker, has joined as the Head of Digital Marketing.
During FY 19 upGrad took several steps to democratise education and skill building in India:
Consolidated its position as a leading company in the online learning space with the aqui-hire of Acadview’s team
Launched first-ever skill building and learning programme for college students, helping them to take the first step towards building their careers
Partnered with HDFC Life Insurance to introduce a comprehensive Post Graduate Program in Life Insurance, with 100% job guarantee on successful course completion
Introduced first of its kind fully online Master’s Degree Program in Data Science in India in collaboration with Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU)
Ronnie Screwvala and Mayank Kumar, Co-founders, upGrad, said, “Lifelong learning, that can have a tangible impact on career, is the new mantra and the need of the hour for all working professionals; online education offers these professionals a platform to upskill at their own convenience. Over the last two years upGrad has grown over 100% every year, which further establishes the scope and opportunity for digital learning in India. upGrad has developed a holistic digital education experience for working professionals and college students for upskilling and reskilling. We will continue this growth momentum and are particularly excited with the potential in the college segment.”
upGrad widened its communication reach with marketing spends of over INR 100 crore to launch a marketing campaign and roped in Vicky Kaushal as the brand ambassador.
Since its inception upGrad has introduced 35 programs in the areas of data science, technology and management and has a paid learner base of 13K. upGrad learners have witnessed ~46% increase in their salaries post compleition of programs. It has partnered with leading academic institutes like BITS Pilani, IIIT-Bangalore, Cambridge Judge Business School of Executive Education and MICA to develop its course content. The company has collaborations with some of industry’s best like Google, Flipkart, Gramener, OYO to create a cohesive and practical learning experience.
