Main Highlights:
- Unacademy, the tech unicorn, recently let off over 600 staff, including permanent and contract instructors.
- According to the article, some 600 staff were asked to resign last week. The SoftBank-backed ed_tech powerhouse looks to cut costs due to an impending slowdown in venture capital and a tighter overall economic climate.
- According to the business, less than 600 employees, contractors, and Educators have been laid off, representing less than 10% of Unacademy’s entire staff.
- They are focusing on profitability in their primary company by the end of Q4 CY2022 while investing in expansion in their group companies, according to an Unacademy representative.
- Temasek and prior investors such as Softbank Vision Fund, General Atlantic, and Tiger Global Management recently invested $440 million in the ed_tech industry.
Unacademy, the edtech unicorn, has let off over 600 individuals, including permanent employees and contract educators. According to the story, about 600 employees were asked to quit last week as the SoftBank-backed edtech behemoth seeks to slash expenses in an imminent slowdown in venture investment and a tightening general economic climate.
According to the firm, less than 600 employees, contractual workers, and Educators have been laid off, accounting for less than 10% of Unacademy’s overall workforce. They are focused on profitability in their primary business by the end of Q4 CY2022 while investing in expansion in their group companies.
Out of the 600 employees laid off in recent weeks, around 300 purportedly contracted instructors, while the others worked in sales, business, and other duties. According to a statement sent to YourStory by the firm, Unacademy is establishing a culture of high performance and openness.
A tiny portion of employee, contractor, and instructor positions were re-evaluated following many evaluations due to role redundancy and performance, as is customary for any organization of their size and scope. In good faith, the business has arranged for them to receive some additional benefits and a hefty severance package in good faith.
However, a half-dozen laid-off employees allege they were ignorant of the experiment and received no feedback on poor ratings or performance, according to The Economic Times. The employees were allegedly given one hour to accept the company’s offer of two months’ severance during a conversation with the Human Resources (HR) department, adding that Unacademy has also failed to assist these employees with job search efforts.
Unacademy joined the unicorn club in September 2020 after being founded in 2015 by Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, and Hemesh Singh. The edtech business just secured $440 million from Singapore’s Temasek and previous investors such as Softbank Vision Fund, General Atlantic, and Tiger Global Management. It was valued at $3.44 billion at the time. According to YourStory, Unacademy was on an aggressive recruiting drive following this round of funding.
About Unacademy
Unacademy is a 2015 Edtech startup. Gaurav Munjal and Dheeraj Meena founded the firm as a Youtube channel. Later that year, in 2015, the firm was incorporated as an education corporation in Bengaluru. In September 2020, the firm will join the Unicorn club after raising $150 million from Softbank and other current investors.
With its instructional videos and lectures, Unacademy is an online platform that simplifies studying and teaching. It was created in 2010 with videos streaming on YouTube but was not formally released until 2015.
Since its inception, the firm has grown exponentially, with over 10,000 educators and over 13 million users. Hemesh Singh, co-founder, and chief technology officer of Unacademy, joyfully announced that the company had surpassed 750,000 active paying customers.
