Upgrad says its revenue has jumped 50% in second quarter - edtech startup is on track for ₹1,200 crore annual run rate

Edtech firm upGrad on Tuesday said it has reported a 50 per cent growth in its gross revenue in the second quarter (Q2) of FY21, keeping the company on track for its forecast of Rs 1,200 crore annual run rate.

Founded in early 2015, the company was able to translate the intent into business at the average revenue per user (ARPU) of over Rs 2.5 lakh in the three-month period.

"The new quarter looks much stronger given our pipeline of 50+ new programme launches with top national and international universities, coupled with our aggressive entry in the online degree space," said Arjun Mohan, CEO-India, upGrad.

The firm added 20 new programmes in Q2 and the start date of programmes, which used to be once a quarter till the last fiscal, had to be tripled this quarter to meet the growing demand.

"This has led to a cumulative of nine lakh learners, which will gain further momentum in the subsequent months," the company informed.

"upGrad talent pool achieved tremendous outcomes in the last quarter. We enabled around 1,000+ job transitions in 2020 to date. One of our learners securing a package of Rs 73 lakh with a 43 per cent hike in a Covid-stricken market, bears testimony to the robustness of our business model," said Mayank Kumar, Co-founder and MD, upGrad.

The upGrad team has grown by over 800 during Q2, to a total of 1,800 employees spread over 1,000 cities.

While the reported Q2 business growth has been largely from the domestic markets, the company said it is ramping up its global outreach by branching into the APAC, Middle East, Europe, UK, and North African markets.

upGrad provides online programmes in the areas of data science, technology, management and law to college students, working professionals and enterprises.