CollegeDekho is a leading platform dealing with higher education services and college admissions, which was undergoing a notable stagnation in its growth curve in the fiscal year preceding March 2025. Although the company attempts to scale its operations, the most recent financial statements obtained on the Registrar of Companies show that the topline of the firm has not changed significantly.
Although the revenue did not demonstrate a significant increase in momentum, the financial health of the company suffered as the company’s losses increased by 19% annually. This growth saw the net loss push to ₹151 crore during FY25, as compared to the ₹127 crore loss experienced in the past financial year, showing how the company has become increasingly disconnected with its spending and its earnings.
Operational costs and consolidated financial data
The consolidated financial information reveals that the revenue of CollegeDekho through its operations has only increased marginally, by ₹221.6 crore in FY25 and ₹215.6 crore in FY24. The startup was founded in 2015 and has created a highly diversified marketplace that offers student counseling, lead generation, and university partnerships. In addition to the domestic admissions, the company has grown its presence in seven different brands, which include GetMyUni, ImaginXP, PrepBytes, Get GIS, IELTSMaterial, Unipto Education, and Assured.
These brands enable the platform to provide a diverse range of services such as education loans, test preparation, and consultancies about studying abroad. Although this company generates revenue mainly by way of commission on admissions and other marketing services, the company earned ₹6 crore of revenue through interest and investment income, thus making the total income ₹227.7 crore.
Through a closer examination of the expenditure, one will notice an enormous change in the way the company is spending its capital. Advertising and promotional activities became the main cost center, where 33% of the expenses were incurred. Expenditure in this category also increased by 31% to ₹126 crore, with the company working hard to create brand awareness and to win customers in a market that is increasingly competitive.
CollegeDekho, on the other hand, was able to save its employee benefit costs by 25% as the costs were down to ₹117 crore compared with ₹156 crore that it incurred last year. This amount contains ₹7.4 crore non-cash ESOP expenditure. These savings were compensated by other increasing expenses, including the outsourcing and subcontracting expenses, which increased twice in the fiscal year to ₹31.5 crore.
Market position and efficiency challenges
The steady flat revenue and higher expenditure in certain areas of operation have contributed to worsening the main financial ratios of the company. The total spending on CollegeDekho increased to ₹378.8 crore in FY25, which is 8.6% higher than the amount spent in FY24 of ₹348.9 crore. This imbalance led to a negative worsening of both the EBITDA margin of -56.9% and a Return on Capital Employed of -154.93%.
At the unit level, the operational efficiency of the company was also under pressure since it incurred about ₹1.71 per unit to get one unit of operating revenue. The current assets of the company were ₹176 crore at the end of the fiscal year, and ₹37 crore in cash and bank balances.
As of now, CollegeDekho has raised over 68 million in total capital, the latest round of capital fund being a ₹40 crore debt round by Recur Club in April of last year. CarDekho is the highest external stakeholder of the firm according to the data intelligence, with Winter Capital coming second.
The company is a new business that is in a saturated market, competing with other companies such as Leverage Edu that had a revenue of more than ₹180 crores in FY25. The bootstrapped Collegedunia had been able to remain profitable, reporting ₹192 crore revenue in the previous fiscal year. With the ongoing changes in the higher education sector, the challenge has been for CollegeDekho to seek a viable way of breaking the thin ice of profitability, whilst also controlling its high burn rate.
Conclusion
CollegeDekho FY25 financial performance highlights a difficult time in the edtech and admissions marketplace. Although the company has managed to diversify its brand base and retain its operational size, the absence of revenue growth and increased losses indicates that the company requires a business model that is more sustainable.
The massive expenditure on advertising has not been translated into the topline growth needed to cover the high costs of the company. When the company proceeds, the aspect of compromising between aggressive customer acquisition and operational efficiency will be important in stabilizing its financial position and competitive position with venture-backed and profitable bootstrapped competitors in the education department.
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