byju’s

Indian edtech Unacademy cuts 10% of jobs • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 7, 2022Posted in byju's, edtech, india, Startups, UnacademyNo Comments

Unacademy has eliminated 10% of its workforce, or about 350 roles, in its second round of layoffs this year as the Indian edtech warns of harsh economic conditions. In an email to employees on Monday, Unacademy co-founder and chief executive Gaurav Munjal said the startup is cutting jobs across several verticals, many of which it is either scaling back or shutting down. “I want to apologize to everyone sincerely since we made a commitment of no layoffs in the organizations,” he wrote in the email, seen by ZebethMedia. “But the market challenges have forced us to reevaluate our decisions. Fund has significantly slowed down and a large portion of our core business has moved offline,” he added. The Bengaluru-headquartered Unacademy, valued at $3.4 billion, cut 1,000 full-time and contractual roles in April this year. “This decision has not been easy and I take complete responsibility. You have contributed immensely to the success of Unacademy and the team will always be indebted to you. There is no easy way to do this and this is definitely not the kind of separation I would have wanted. We will do our best to help everyone in these difficult times,” he said, adding that those leaving the firm will get severance pay equivalent of their notice period and of additional two months, accelerated one year of vesting period and medical Insurance coverage for additional one year. Unacademy has been undertaken several cost-cutting measures in recent quarters as it rushed to improve its finances and cut several experimental businesses. In June this year, Munjal said that he and other founders will take a pay cut and shut down “certain businesses.” Edtech firms are among the most impacted startups in the current market downturn. Online learning platform Byju’s, India’s most valuable startup, has also announced plans to cut thousands of jobs this year. The startup has also postponed its IPO plans, but it is looking to list its offline subsidiary, Aakash, at a valuation of over $3.5 billion, ZebethMedia reported last week. (More to follow)

Byju’s eyes $1 billion IPO for physical tutor chain Aakash • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 2, 2022Posted in aakash, byju's, india, Startups, VentureNo Comments

Indian edtech giant Byju’s is engaging with bankers to put together a plan for the initial public offering of its physical tutor chain unit Aakash, which it acquired last year, a source familiar with the matter told ZebethMedia. The Bengaluru-headquartered firm is looking to raise $800 million to $1 billion in the initial public offering of Aakash at a valuation of over $3.5 billion, the source said, requesting anonymity as the details are private. The startup may file the paperwork for the IPO as early as February, the source said. The deliberations are at an early stage, so the terms of the deal may change or get completely abandoned, the source cautioned. Byju’s and its founder, Byju Raveendran, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A plan for the IPO of Aakash, which Byju’s acquired for nearly $1 billion last year, comes as the group firm has postponed its own listing plan amid the global market downturn. Byju’s seriously explored going public earlier this year through the SPAC route at north of $40 billion valuation but changed the plan after the market dramatically reversed most of the gains from the past 13 years of the bull run. Raveendran told ZebethMedia in an earlier interview that Byju’s was watching the macro market conditions closely and will file for an IPO in nine to 12 months. “I don’t think the markets will turn this year,” he said at the time. Another reason why Byju’s is considering listing Aakash on Indian stock exchanges is its apprehension about the consumer awareness of the Indian unit in the global markets, a person familiar with the matter said. The 34-year-old Aakash runs a chain of physical coaching centres across India. Prior to the acquisition, the firm was planning to list in the country. Aakash, which has been profitable for years, is on track to clock a revenue of over $360 million in the financial year ending 2024 at a 25% margin, the person familiar with the matter said.

Vedantu acquires majority stake in Deeksha for $40 million in offline push • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 13, 2022Posted in byju's, india, Startups, Vedantu, VentureNo Comments

Indian edtech Vedantu has acquired a majority stake in education chain Deeksha for $40 million, the latest in local online learning platforms’ growing attempts at tapping opportunities in the offline market. The Bengaluru-headquartered Vedantu, which became a unicorn last year, said it will integrate its technology into offline centers of Deeksha as part of the strategic partnership to create a “scalable hybrid model.” Deeksha is a 22-year-old institution that operates 39 physical centers in three Indian states. Vedantu began experimenting with offline experience earlier this year and said in Deeksha, it found the right partner to maker deeper inroads in smaller Indian cities and towns. In an interview with ZebethMedia, Vedantu co-founder and chief executive Vamsi Krishna said he has been tracking Deeksha for 10 years and when they began exploring synergies together, it became clear that the two will immensely benefit from the partnership. Deeksha’s current topline revenue is between $10 million to $12 million and it’s operating at a 21% EBIDTA margin, according to a person familiar with the matter. Krishna declined to comment on Deeksha’s finances. Krishna, who is a teacher himself, has taken a slightly different approach to acquisition opportunities. The edtech market in India has witnessed over a dozen consolidation in the past two years, but Vedantu has largely avoided any participation in that game. “We are still open to acquiring more startups, but I don’t have a certain metric to hit. Acquiring firms is not a strategy for Vedantu,” he said. “When we say we are employing a hybrid strategy, we don’t mean pure offline centers. In fact, we don’t have any intention to ever open a pure offline center. We have always believed in creating access to quality teachers especially in tier 3 and tier 4 cities. Our vision is that students come to the center, but teachers are still teaching through streaming and other technologies. Indian edtech giants accelerated their growth during the pandemic – and raised record amounts of capital. But as schools reopen, the firms are increasingly finding it difficult to maintain the same growth. India is one of the world’s largest education markets with over 300 million school-going students and those preparing for competitive college exams. Only a sliver of this base is currently using any online education service. Offline coaching centers, in contrast, are growing and continue to remain far more popular among students. In the past two years, top edtech giants including Byju’s, Vedantu and Unacademy, some of which sought to displace the offline players by offering affordable and higher quality education, have renewed their efforts to more directly tap the offline market. Byju’s acquired Aakash, another physical online institute, for nearly $1 billion last year. Unacademy launched offline experience stores earlier this year. “Offline learning is not going away anytime soon. In fact, online complements offline really well, and together as a package, the omnichannel model is going to steer and be here for a long period of time,” GV Ravishankar, a partner at Sequoia India, said at an event earlier this year. “Through this partnership, we will leverage Vedantu’s LIVE Class platform for our students and provide a hybrid solution that maximizes learning outcomes through personalized learning algorithms. Vedantu’s hybrid learning model will also enable us to provide the same ‘Deeksha Experience’ to millions of students in smaller towns and cities at an affordable cost,” said Dr. Sridhar, co-founder of Deeksha, in a statement.

Indian edtech giant Byju’s cuts 2,500 jobs • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 12, 2022Posted in Asia, byju's, india, StartupsNo Comments

Indian edtech giant Byju’s said on Wednesday it has eliminated 5% of its workforce, or about 2,500 roles, across multiple departments as it looks to improve its finances and achieve profitability, it said. This the second significant layoff step the startup, valued at $22 billion, has undertaken in recent months. In June, it cut hundreds of jobs. “As a mature organisation that takes its responsibility towards investors and stakeholders seriously, we aim to ensure sustainable growth alongside strong revenue growth. These measures will help us achieve profitability in the defined time frame of March 2023” Mrinal Mohit, CEO, BYJU’S India business, said. (More to follow…)