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Edtech unicorn Unacademynarrowed its losses by almost half and increased its operating revenue in FY 2022-23 compared to the previous fiscal year, benefitting from curtailed expenses.

The Bengaluru-based firm reported a consolidated loss of Rs 1,678.1 crore in FY23, a fall of 41.1% from Rs 2,847.9 crore recorded in the earlier fiscal period. Meanwhile, its operating revenue surged 26.1%, touching Rs 907 crore in FY23 compared to Rs 719.2 crore in FY22, as per its recent consolidated financial statements.

The startup’s total income, including interest income from current investments amounting to Rs 122.4 crore, reached Rs 1,044.3 crore in the financial year that ended this March—up from Rs 844.7 crore in the previous fiscal year.

The Gaurav Munjal-led firm benefitted from curtailed expenses—with overall expenditure down 26.2%. Its total expenses fell to Rs 2,734.2 crore in FY23, compared to Rs 3,702.8 crore in FY22. 

The edtech company allocated Rs 1,281.2 crore to employee benefits in FY23—a 27.7% drop from the Rs 1,771.6 crore spent in the preceding financial year. Despite the reduction, it remains the largest expense category.

The reduced employee benefit expense can be seen as a reflection of multiple rounds of layoffs, salary reductions among senior leadership, and a wave of senior-level departures from the company. 

The firm also managed to reduce its other expenses, such as advertising promotional expenses, by 32.5% to Rs 370.2 crore in FY23 from Rs 548.7 crore in the previous fiscal year.

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The FY23 results follow Munjal’s statement a month ago, claiming that the edtech firm has reduced its cash burn by 60% and has a runway of over four years with its current cash reserves. He also highlighted that the company achieved positive cash flow during the April-June quarter of the current fiscal year.

However, the online business of the edtech company witnessed a 30% decline, while EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation), a metric indicating core operational efficiency, exhibited an 87% improvement, according to Munjal.

Back in April, Munjal had noted that Unacademy’s revenue from offline centres had surged to Rs 400 crore in CY23, a substantial 655% increase from Rs 53 crore in CY22.

The edtech firm has witnessed a jump in revenue through sharp growth in its offline business. However, the revenue from the online test preparation segment—its core business—has dropped. 

Founded by Munjal, Roman Saini, and Hemesh Singh in 2015, Unacademy claims to have a network of over 91,000 registered educators and more than 99 million learners, offering education in over 14 Indian languages across 10,000 cities.

The Unacademy Group comprises Unacademy, Graphy, UnacademyX, NextLevel, and Prepladder. The edtech unicorn has raised a total of $811 million in over 13 rounds, according to Tracxn.