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Edtech startup Adda247 has fired around 250-300 employees across verticals, sources aware of the development told Entrackr. This is the first layoff at the WestBridge Capital-backed company in the past few years.
At least 100-150 employees were being fired from StudyIQ, a UPSC-focused edtech platform acquired by Adda247 for about $20 million in December 2021. “Major verticals such as sales, content and faculty at Adda247 also saw layoff of about 150 employees,” said a source on the condition of anonymity as the person isn’t authorized to speak to the media.
In October last year, Adda247 scooped up $35 million led by Westbridge while Google also joined along with existing investors Info Edge, Asha Edu Tech and JM Financial. Entrackr exclusively reported the development.
Significantly, it is one of the few Indian startups along with Dunzo where Google is a direct investor. The search giant typically backs startups through its investment arm CapitalG.
As per startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Adda247 has raised more than $60 million and was valued at $175 million in its last round.
As per sources, the laid off staff were asked to resign without any prior notice.
“The downsizing was done to extend the runway as funding tap has dried up for the edtech companies and the investment environment is unlikely to improve for the sector,” said another source who also requested anonymity. “The exercise was abrupt and there was no townhall or any communication from the human resources department.”
Adda247 declined to comment on the story.
Founded by Anil Nagar and Saurabh Bansal, Adda247 is a test prep platform for public sector (government) jobs such as railways, banking, SSC and public sector jobs focusing on tier II & tier III. For the past couple of years, it has also started focusing on K-12, JEE and NEET, and GATE preparations.
Adda247 registered 68.3% surge in its revenue to Rs 61.5 crore in FY22 as compared to Rs 36.55 crore in FY21. Meanwhile, its losses also jumped 90% to Rs 28.8 crore in FY22 from Rs 15.2 crore in the preceding fiscal. The firm is yet to file its annual report for the last fiscal year (FY23).
While there is a decline in the number of layoffs in edtech startups, the total count has gone up considering the mass layoff at Byju’s which reportedly could go beyond 4,000. In the ongoing calendar year (2023), Indian startups saw more than 22,000 layoffs, which is 2,000 more than the previous year.
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