Upgrad Business Model: How Does Upgrade Make Money?

Mayank Kumar, Ravijot Chugh, Phalgun Kompalli, and Ronnie Screwvala created UpGrad, an online higher education firm in India, in 2015. The business is India’s government’s official education partner for the Startup India initiative. The EdTech organization provides college students, corporates, and working professionals with online Data Science, IT, Management, and Technology programs.

UpGrad

upGrad Company Details

Company Name UpGrad
Origin Country India
Founded 2015
Founders Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, Phalgun Kompalli, Ravijot Chugh
CEO Mayank Kumar
Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Industry Education Technology (EdTech)
Key Offerings Online Courses, Certification Programs, Skill Development
Number of Employees Over 1,000 (as of last update)
Official Website www.upgrad.com

Academic Partners

UpGrad develops online programs in partnership with domestic and foreign academic partners. In collaboration with the academic partners, which include Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), MICA, Deakin University, Duke Corporate Education, BITS Pilani, IIT Madras, IMT Ghaziabad, IIIT-B, NMIMS Global Access School for Continuing Education, and Liverpool Business School, it offers thirty programs.

Business Model of upGrad

With a two-way approach between students and educators to create a bright future together, UpGrad operates on a rather successful business model. Stated differently, UpGrad is an intermediary between educational institutions and individuals seeking optimal knowledge and proficiency. The educational institutions charge fair costs for their program courses in many subjects accessible through the UpGrad website and app.

To make career-oriented courses more accessible and support Indian students and working professionals who wish to advance in their careers, upGrad has partnered with prestigious universities.

Applicants interested in the courses provided should register on UpGrad by completing the necessary eligibility requirements set forth by the school. The candidate then pays the specified course fees. There are two ways to submit the fees offered by UpGrad: all at once or in installments.

Additionally, professional advisers are employed by UpGrad to enroll professional candidates in their courses. This creates a two-way business strategy that aids UpGrad in reaching its end objectives and offers businesses an easy way to acquire qualified candidates. Now that we have discussed UpGrad’s business model let’s examine what makes it special.

What is unique about UpGrad’s business model?

The fact that UpGrad is unlike any other ed-tech company offering instructional videos and content makes its business strategy the most distinctive. UpGrad is the top platform that offers experts’ and entrepreneurs’ knowledge and experience. UpGrad consistently produces outstanding outcomes and provides many services tailored to students.

Key Strengths

With plans to add over 15 new courses to its offerings, UpGrad is well on its way to growing its global presence. All the company’s students receive academic and practical help through live projects, group assignments, mentorship programs, case studies, live lectures, and interactive content teams.

90–95% course completion rate is exceptionally high in an industry where MOOCs typically have a course completion rate of less than 7%—content created and distributed in association with leading industry figures.

Students received a robust offline education through workshops, webinars, meetups, and other events—one of the few businesses in the online education technology space that helps students get jobs.

How does UpGrad generate revenue?

Because of their dedication to candidates’ education, UpGrad offers programs at particular, very affordable costs. After the candidates complete the program, they are paid about half the total revenue. UpGrad gets paid by businesses that send their staff to UpGrad for training in exchange for enterprise business relationships.

Model of Revenue

Companies pay the company to train its staff as part of its enterprise business. The cost of UpGrad’s programs demonstrates its dedication to placing students. Only when the learner is placed after the program is finished will 50% of the program fees be collected from them. In India, this pricing approach is the first of its type.

UpGrad offers several free courses. You should sign up for upGrad’s paid programs to fully utilize its capabilities. In addition to its premium and paid courses, upGrad offers a selection of free courses that allow professionals and students to learn nearly anything for free, including management, technology, and data science.

Conclusion

UpGrad has a solid and successful business strategy, as shown in its earnings and performance. Most significantly, the organization prioritizes and makes no concessions on the candidates’ education. UpGrad employs a successful marketing approach that consistently produces a range of advantageous transactions.