CollegeDekho, a Gurugram-based higher-education platform, reported a widened loss of ₹151 crore for the financial year ended March 2025, even as operating revenue stagnated. The larger loss, up from ₹127 crore in FY24, underscores mounting pressure on the company’s business model amid slowing student acquisition and tougher market conditions.
Revenue and business model
For FY25, operating revenue was about ₹221.6 crore, a marginal increase from the previous year that reflects near-flat growth. Including interest and other non-operating income, total revenue reached close to ₹228 crore. The results highlight a mismatch between revenue generation and rising operating costs at a time when India’s edtech sector is consolidating and re-evaluating growth strategies.
CollegeDekho functions as a digital marketplace linking students with colleges, and provides services such as admission counselling, entrance exam preparation, application assistance, education loans and study-abroad support. The company reports having helped over a million students and partnered with thousands of institutions, but these scale metrics have not translated into commensurate revenue growth in FY25.
Cost pressures and spending mix
Marketing and promotional expenditure emerged as the principal driver of higher costs. Advertising and promotional spend rose sharply to around ₹126 crore in FY25, accounting for roughly one-third of total expenses as the company invested heavily in brand visibility and lead generation.
Employee benefit expenses declined nearly 25% to about ₹117 crore, suggesting workforce rationalisation and cost-cutting measures; this figure still included non-cash items such as ESOP charges. At the same time, outsourcing and subcontracting costs more than doubled to over ₹31 crore, signalling increased dependence on external service providers.
Other expenses — covering technology, administration, legal services, travel, rent and bad-debt provisions — contributed to total expenditure approaching ₹379 crore for the year, further widening the gap between costs and income.
Operational metrics and liquidity
Key operational indicators weakened through FY25. EBITDA margins and return on capital employed declined as unit economics deteriorated — the company spent materially more for every rupee of operating income. On the balance sheet, CollegeDekho closed the year with current assets of around ₹176 crore, including cash and bank balances of roughly ₹37 crore, providing a limited short-term liquidity buffer.
Competitive landscape and funding
The education services market in India has become increasingly competitive, with several peers reporting stronger growth or moving towards profitability by focusing on tighter segments and clearer monetisation. Against this backdrop, CollegeDekho faces the challenge of recalibrating strategy to balance growth with cost discipline and improved unit economics.
To date, the company has raised more than $68 million via equity and debt, with investors that include CarDekho and Winter Capital. Recent debt funding has supported near-term working capital needs, but sustained losses could strain cash flows if revenue momentum does not recover.
Outlook
As investor focus shifts to sustainable unit economics and tighter capital allocation in the maturing edtech sector, CollegeDekho’s FY25 performance highlights the limits of scale without profitability. The coming year will be critical as the company seeks to optimise spending, improve margins and reignite meaningful revenue growth in a demanding market environment.
