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Edtech firm Vedantu’s revenue from its core business in FY23-24 dropped below its FY20-21 levels, marking the second consecutive year of decline and indicating a continued slowing in its main operations.

Vedantu’s revenue decline can be attributed to challenges in the edtech industry, especially the K-12 segment, including increased competition and a shift towards offline learning.

The Vamsi Krishna-led firm has shifted to a more measured approach, moving away from its earlier aggressive, funding-driven growth strategy.

“The goal is to build a sustainable education company that focuses on quality, even if it’s on a smaller scale. The future of education, at least in our space, will be a mix of both offline and online,” Krishna had told The CapTable earlier this year. “I am sure Vedantu will get there eventually.”

The Bengaluru-based company saw its standalone operating revenue drop 35.7% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 77.6 crore in FY24. However, its consolidated operating revenue, including earnings from subsidiaries, grew by 21% YoY to Rs 184.5 crore for the fiscal year ended March 2024.

The startup’s total income, including interest income and gain on sale of current investment, stood at Rs 199.2 crore in the financial year—up 14% YoY.

Notably, the edtech company narrowed its loss by 57.7% YoY, bringing it down to Rs 157.5 crore in FY24, according to its recent consolidated financial statements.

The narrowing of losses was driven by reduced spending on employee benefits, which, despite the firm’s largest expense category, fell to Rs 175.7 crore—a 44% YoY decrease. Salaries and wages along with employee share-based payments dropped by nearly half YoY.

Employee share-based payments are typically granted to executives, senior management, key employees, and sometimes broader staff to incentivise performance and promote retention.

Vedantu’s last reported layoffs occurred in December 2022, affecting 385 employees in its fourth round of layoffs that year.

Meanwhile, the edtech firm reduced its other expenses, such as advertising promotional expenses by 70% YoY to Rs 22.8 crore, resulting in total expenses of Rs 367.7 crore—33.5% YoY.

In September, Vedantu secured Rs 19.25 crore (or $2.3 million) in debt and equity capital from Stride Ventures. According to Tracxn, the company has raised a total of $326 million across 21 funding rounds.

Vedantu, founded by Krishna, Anand Prakash, and Pulkit Jain in 2014, became a unicorn in 2021 after raising $100 million in its Series E round led by Singapore-based ABC World Asia.

Recently, Unacademy reported narrowing its losses by nearly two-thirds but saw a decline in operating revenue in FY24 compared to the previous year.