upGrad CEO Arjun Mohan steps down

 “I am currently in an exploration phase and figuring out the next steps as in if I will join an organization or start something of my own," Mohan said, adding that 15 January will be his last day in the role. 

“I started my journey in education sector in the year 2008 and believe that still there is a lot more to be done to solve the persistent problems of access, affordability and quality," he said in a LinkedIn post. In a separate statement, he said that he would continue working in the edtech and education space. 

A company spokesperson confirmed the development; however, it could not be ascertained who will be filling in Mohan’s shoes in the interim. 

The edtech unicorn, led by Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar and Phalgun Kompalli, onboarded Mohan as the CEO in April 2020. Before upGrad, the former CEO worked as the chief business officer at edtech rival Byju’s, as per his LinkedIn profile.

The resignation comes soon after it invested ₹30 crore with an aim to strengthen its product vertical under brand TuringMinds, in December last year. The vertical was set up in 2021 to cater to the increasing traction from enterprises for outsourced research and product development. 

The upskilling platform, operated by upGrad Education Pvt Ltd, reported wider losses in financial year (FY) 2022, with over three times higher losses at ₹626.6 crore against ₹211.1 crore in the previous year. 

The losses were pumped by a significant rise in expenses during FY22. Total expenses grew 2.5x to ₹1,300.6 crore versus ₹513.8 crore in FY21. 

On is expenses, the company had said, “there is no such thing as reducing costs for a growth company as it’s about expanding and building on revenues. "   

“We will continue to increase our team size substantially over the next two quarters as we grow and scale our revenue. Unlike others in the K-12 space who would have started multiple initiatives, ours was a part of the strategy to become the most integrated higher education company in the world," the firm had said in in a release. 

The company raised $210 million in a funding round in August 2022, led by ETS Global and Bodhi Tree, pegging its valuation at $2.25 billion.