FrontRow, the edtech startup, has laid off about 145 members of its team, that is, 30 per cent of its workforce. Maximum employees were affected from the sales and business-development teams.
The learning and community platform calls these job cuts a part of an exercise to make the Company more efficient and agile. It is not the only firm in the edtech space to have resorted to downsizing. With funding expected to slow down, most organisations in this sector are trying to cut costs.
With various experts, celebrities and influencers on its panel, the Bengaluru-based upskilling platform focuses on teaching non-academic skills, such as singing, photography, film-making, screenwriting and even comedy. Last year, in September, it managed to raise funds to the tune of $14 million from various investors including Eight Road Ventures, GSV, Lightspeed and Elevation Capital and some angel investors.
Over the last one year, FrontRow, which is co-founded by Ishaan Preet Singh, had scaled the business and made heavy investments to create a new category. This round of layoffs is expected to help the Company achieve its growth goals and focus more on the core business. In fact, the Company intends to continue hiring quality talent for the core business and focus on profitability and sustainability.
It is not just the edtech space that is witnessing startups laying off employees. Many other companies, including Meesho, the online shopping site and Cars24 the used-cars platform, have laid off hundreds of employees recently.
