Unacademy lays off 250 employees

Edtech unicorn Unacademy has laid off 250 employees as the company is looking to streamline operations and enhance efficiency.

A company spokesperson confirmed the layoff but did not disclose the actual number of employees getting impacted.

“As part of our ongoing efforts to streamline operations and enhance business efficiency, we have recently undergone a restructuring exercise. This was necessary keeping in mind the company's goals and vision for the year, as we focus all our efforts on sustainable growth and profitability. Consequently, some roles have been impacted. While this transition won’t be easy, we will be supporting all impacted individuals during this transition,” the company spokesperson said in a statement.

The layoff has come at a time when the SoftBank-backed firm is engaged in talks to merge with K12 Techno which runs the chain of Orchids International Schools. Entrackr had exclusively reported this last month.

In March 2023, Unacademy fired 10% of its workforce. In May this year, its group company NEET PG preparation platform PrepLadder also saw layoffs of 145 employees.

That said, the development at Unacademy comes just weeks after the exit of its co-founder and chief technology officer, Hemesh Singh.

Unacademy raised its last equity round of $440 million at a valuation of $3.44 billion in August 2021. Since then, the firm has gone through several changes such as mass layoffs and shutting down acquired verticals. Though, it has also launched several offline centers. The firm recently forayed into the language learning segment with a new app.

For the fiscal year ending March 2023 (FY23), Unacademy recorded a 26% jump in its operating revenue to Rs 907 crore while controlling losses by nearly 40% to Rs 1,004 core. In the beginning of FY24, the company also claimed that it was close to achieving profitability at the group level. The firm is yet to file the audited annual report for the last fiscal year (FY24).

Edtech companies have been going through a rough patch in the past couple of years. As per data compiled by TheKredible, edtech companies managed to raise only $138 million across 21 deals during the first half of 2024. The segment was the leader in terms of mopping up investment in 2021 and 2022 across Indian startup ecosystem but raising capital for any edtech startups at the moment looks very bleak especially in the wake of the segment’s posterboy Byju’s staring at bankruptcy.