Asheesh Sharma has taken over as president of the short courses and bootcamps division effective Tuesday, upGrad said in a statement.
“Asheesh, with a rich professional background in education spanning more than two decades, assumes a pivotal role at upGrad KnowledgeHut. He will lead P&L growth, bring new program innovations to the fore, and expand its core offerings internationally,” it said.
Reddy, who founded KnowledgeHut in 2011, had stepped down on December 5 and did not serve any notice period, the company said.
His was the second high-profile exit from UpGrad in 2023 after its erstwhile chief executive Arjun Mohan stepped down in January. Mohan joined K-12-focused edtech Byju’s.
KnowledgeHut had a presence in over 70 countries by the time upGrad had acquired it. It contributes majorly to upGrad’s enterprise business as a skills transformation partner to clients.
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For the year ended March 2023, upGrad had nearly doubled its turnover year on year to Rs 1,194 crore. Losses at the Mumbai-based company, however, widened 67% to Rs 1,142 crore in FY23 from Rs 684 crore in the previous year.Changes in FY23 included a reduction in marketing costs, making up 19% of total costs at Rs 371 crore, lower than 33% of costs at Rs 403 crore a year earlier. Employee costs remained the highest contributor at 36%, amounting to Rs 707 crore, which also included some non-cash costs for employee stock options.
“We are tracking H2 of FY24 and onward to be operationally profitable on an ongoing basis and we will continue to look for organic, linear, and non-linear opportunities for growth both in Asia and around the world,” Mayank Kumar, cofounder and managing director of upGrad, had said while announcing the FY23 report.
The overall learner base of upGrad had crossed 10 million while paid learners have grown 54% in FY23. The company said it also boasts of a strong enterprise play, having serviced 1,110 clients in FY23 and expects to retain at least 75% of these clients in FY24.
“The enterprise arm expanded its global footprint and is projecting a higher share of international revenue of 21% in FY24 compared to 10% in FY23,” it had said in a statement.