Scaler, one of India’s fastest-growing tech upskilling startups, announced a cumulative 2500 per cent revenue growth in FY 2020 and 2021 with an Annual Revenue Rate (ARR) of $110 Million in August 2022. Owing to the capital-efficient business model adopted by the company, Scaler has achieved YoY growth of over 350 per cent and sustained month-on-month revenue growth of 15 per cent. Despite the high growth, the company has been cash flow positive for the last few months.
To date, Scaler has acquired three edtech startups – AppliedRoots, Coding Minutes and Coding Elements – to further strengthen the offerings in Software Development, Data Science (DS) and Machine Learning (ML). Scaler has also forayed into higher education with one-of-its-kind Scaler Neovarsity that offers an ECTS-accredited online Master of Science (MS) in Computer Science program. Understanding the global need for upskilling, Scaler has also launched operations in the US.
“The last two years have been incredibly empowering, not only for our learners who have been able to make excellent career paths in the ever-growing tech industry but for all of us working towards building brand Scaler. We have seen remarkable and consistent growth in the business. The number we can share today is a testament to it. The cherry on the cake is that we have achieved this despite being very frugal and measured in how we have spent all the money we raised as investor funds. A large chunk of what we have raised is still in the bank, which has enabled us to take more calculated risks and continue to bet big. I want to accredit this success to our employees, mentors, trainers and learners who have contributed to this journey. This quarter, we will have achieved zero cash burn, and we are thrilled about what the future holds.” said Abhimanyu Saxena, Co-founder of Scaler and InterviewBit.
Gaurav Agarwal, Senior Vice President, Finance of Scaler and InterviewBit, added, “As an organisation, we are very focused towards building sustainable growth. Approximately 20% of the money raised in our previous funding rounds has been spent towards acquisitions. Neither of these acquisitions was towards buying revenue. They were done to strengthen our offering further by getting the right talent on board. The gross bad loan ratio of education books for public service banks is around 6.8%, and that of private banks is at 5.8%, as per several media reports. In comparison, our loan default rates have been less than 0.1%. All these efforts have put us on the path of profitability, helping us build a dependable and viable business in the long run.”
Scaler offers two flagship programs, Scaler Academy and Scaler DSML program. Both courses have seen tremendous uptake from tech professionals across the country. On average, Scaler learners spend 3+ hours daily on the platform, with 1000+ lines of code written per user per week. The company sees a 90 per cent course completion rate with a 94 per cent successful placement rate for its programs. Being able to deliver outcomes, Scaler witnessed 4.5x growth in August 2022 in weekly student enrolments compared to August 2021.
“Coders today are well aware of the importance of upskilling themselves with industry-relevant skills and understand the potential of career growth this brings to the table. Our learners, on average, have received a salary hike of 2.3X post upskilling, with the average salary being around INR 21.6 Lakhs. Hence, the value that tech upskilling offers to software professionals today is immeasurable,” shared Abhimanyu.
Since October 2021, Scaler has strengthened its workforce by nearly 260% to meet the rising demand for upskilling. Currently, the headcount stands at 1800, and the startup also recently announced the intent to hire 600 more professionals by the end of the year.