Edtech firm Unacademy plans to bring down the cash burn in its core business to below Rs 200 crore in calendar year 2025, nearly half of last year’s amount and a sharp decline from over Rs 1,000 crore three years ago, according to CEO Gaurav Munjal.
This comes as edtech companies, including Unacademy, are looking to cut costs and boost efficiency in their pursuit of profitability.
The Bengaluru-based firm reported a consolidated loss of Rs 630.9 crore in FY24, a fall of 62.4% from Rs 1,678.1 crore recorded in the earlier fiscal period. Its focus on reducing expenses helped it narrow the losses, with overall expenditure falling 40.5% year-on-year to Rs 1,627 crore in that fiscal year.
That said, its operating revenue fell 7.4% year-on-year to Rs 839.8 crore in FY24. The decline in revenue came as the edtech company shifted focus to its offline operations in an effort to boost income in the post-pandemic environment, as revenue from its core online test preparation segment declined. In a post on social media platform X, Munjal noted that nearly 70% of the company’s offline centres are expected to be profitable at the centre level this year.
The Unacademy chief pointed out that some of its businesses, such as Graphy and PrepLadder, are generating cash each month, and the company is in a “Default Alive State” with Rs 1,200 crore in the bank. Previously, reports highlighted Unacademy’s potential M&As with offline coaching institute ALLEN and school education and technology services provider K12 Techno Services. “Any edtech (and we have done this mistake in the past) that goes after multiple acquisitions to grow is bound to fail.
It just doesn’t work in this market. So keeping the “Blinders on” and not worrying about who is acquiring whom and focusing on profit is the only way to go,” one of Munjal’s posts read. Munjal has consistently expressed his enthusiasm on social media about Unacademy’s new offering, a language learning app called Airlearn (formerly Unacademy Languages).
Launched in India in June 2024, the app is positioned to compete with global language learning platforms like Duolingo and Babbel. He claimed that Airlearn is the fastest-growing tech product within the Unacademy Group, with nearly 70,000 daily active users and $2 million in annual recurring revenue over the past 12 months.
