Unacademy, the tech unicorn, has laid off more than 10% of its staff in India. The move is being interpreted as consolidation in a field where startup valuations skyrocketed during Covid.
The Bengaluru-based business's cost-cutting exercise follows on the heels of another edtech venture, Lido Learning, which was financed by Indian entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala and shut down in February.
Before the layoffs, Unacademy, which was launched in 2015 as a YouTube channel by Gaurav Munjal, Hemesh Singh, and Roman Saini, employed 6,000 employees. The SoftBank-backed business garnered $440 million in August last year at a valuation of roughly $3. 5 billion, competing with Byju's, which is valued at $22 billion.
When approached by TOI, a spokeswoman for Unacademy stated, "We have talked and parted ways with the named individuals, in line with their respective contracts." Furthermore, the corporation has assured them in good faith that they would get certain supplementary benefits as well as a hefty severance package. The company stated that as an organization, it is focused on becoming profitable in its main business by the end of Q4 CY2022.
Unacademy is a Bangalore-based Indian online education technology startup. Gaurav Munjal established it as a YouTube channel in 2010. It was created in 2015 by Roman Saini, Gaurav Munjal, and Hemesh Singh as a business and is located in Bangalore. The organization has a network of over 12,000 educators and provides preparation material for a variety of professional and academic admission tests. Unacademy teachings are available in the form of free videos as well as through subscription.
Gaurav Munjal launched Unacademy as a YouTube channel in 2010. Unacademy was formally incorporated as an educational corporation in Bangalore in 2015. Unacademy offers study materials for students preparing for civil services, bank employees, and other competitive exams in India.
