Unacademy, the Indian edtech startup, has let go of about 600 employees from its almost 6,000-strong team — about 10 per cent of its workforce — citing performance and redundancy. The Company claims that this move has come after much assessment and evaluation and is part of the startup’s efforts to cut costs and address redundancy.
The Bengaluru-based company, which has the backing of Softbank, has laid off about 300 educators who have been working with it on contract. It has also let go many employees in the sales and content marketing teams of its test preparation division, and discontinued its K-12 business.
Most of the workforce was taken by surprise, especially those who have joined just a few months back. In the second half of 2021, the edtech firm had managed to raise $440 million in funds led by Temasek. Post this funding, its valuation had increased 10 fold.
The Company claims this round of downsizing will ensure more agile and efficient functioning going forward. It plans to focus on making its core business profitable at the earliest, and drive growth in the group businesses.
Unacademy has reportedly cut these jobs as per the conditions of the employees’ contracts. In addition to a good severance package, it has reportedly granted the affected employees certain additional benefits.
