Indian edtech Unacademy cuts another 250 jobs

Indian edtech giant Unacademy is laying off about 250 employees. This is the latest in a series of job cuts at the company after schools reopened across the country following the pandemic lockdowns.

The Bengaluru-headquartered startup, valued at $3.4 billion in its last funding in 2021, is letting go of 100 people in marketing, business and product, and about 150 in sales, according to a source familiar with the situation. The layoffs bring Unacademy’s total job cuts to about 2,000 since the second half of 2022.

An Unacademy spokesperson confirmed the layoffs but didn’t elaborate on how many individuals were impacted.

The spokesperson said the restructuring exercise was “necessary” for staying on the company’s goal of reaching profitability. The startup counts General Atlantic, SoftBank and Peak XV among its backers.

The layoffs come in the midst of a potential merger discussion with K12 Techno, which owns school chain Orchid International, two people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.

Edtech firms across the world saw their fortunes skyrocket as students signed up for courses en masse during the pandemic lockdowns. But once schools reopened, these firms saw enrollment crater. Notably, the sudden collapse of Byju’s, once the country’s most valuable startup, has shaken confidence in the sector to an extent.

Prosus, the largest external investor of Byju’s, last month wrote down its 9.6% stake in the startup to zero amid growing troubles and governance issues at the Indian firm.

Unacademy, which offers online courses for India’s most competitive exams, has been cutting costs for two years while also expanding its brick-and-mortar footprint and experiences. Gaurav Munjal, the company’s co-founder and CEO, said in an X thread last week that an “offline play” was a must for businesses building in India.

He also said startups raised capital in 2021 at “bloated” valuations, adding, “This is not market correction. This is the reality. 2021 wasn’t.”

He also alleged that Byju’s failed because its founder “didn’t listen to anyone.”

“He put himself on a pedestal and stopped listening. Don’t do that,” Munjal wrote. “Never do that. Don’t listen to everyone but have people who can give you blunt feedback.”