According to Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal, funding winter can last up to 18 months

New Delhi, India – Unacademy, which recently laid off over 600 employees, has predicted a funding winter that could last up to 18 months, saying it will cut costs wherever necessary to weather the dry spell and become profitable.

Unacademy co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal stated in a letter to employees that “we must learn to work under constraints and focus on profitability at all costs.”

“Winter has arrived. We must alter our behavior. Instead, we will concentrate on organic growth channels,” he wrote.

Following in the footsteps of Byju, the online learning platform Unacademy, backed by SoftBank and Tiger Global, announced last week its intention to open physical tuition centers across the country.

“Some predict that this [funding winter] will last 24 months.” We must change. This is a challenge for all of us. We must learn to work with limitations. Munjal told employees, “We must focus on profitability at all costs.”

“We have to make it through the winter.”

According to Munjal, the company has “significantly reduced our brand marketing budget,” and “we will instead focus on organic growth channels.”

“Every test prep category we operate must become profitable within the next three months. Unacademy centers should be profitable in fiscal year 23 “He continued.

Munjal stated that all non-revenue-related incentives for educators have been eliminated or are in the process of being eliminated.

“Only travel if absolutely necessary. Meetings that can be held on Zoom and save money on travel should be held on Zoom “He continued.

With India reopening amid the ‘hybrid normal,’ the online education space is shrinking.

Edtech platforms are experiencing a significant drop in demand for online learning, and some of these companies have recently closed or fired employees.

Following the post-Covid tremors at Unacademy and Byju’s-owned WhiteHat Jr, Vedantu, another edtech behemoth, recently laid off over 400 employees.

In a nightmare for nearly 1,000 employees, Lido Learning, a homegrown edtech startup backed by top entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala, shut down operations in February of this year.