Interestingly, layoffs at FrontRow have come at a time when edtech decacorn BYJU’S made a foray into celebrity-focused learning with ‘BYJU’S Xcel’.
Lightspeed-backed celebrity-focused learning startup FrontRow laid off around 125-130 employees recently. Most of the laid-off employees were from the sales and marketing teams. FrontRow founder Ishaan Preet Singh confirmed the development with the media.
With this, FrontRow’s employee count stands at 40-50 now. This is the second round of layoffs at FrontRow in five months. In May, FrontRow laid off 145 employees to cut costs. The startup has a cash runway for over a year and will grow with a small team. Laid-off employees have been offered a one-month salary as a severance package.
The latest layoffs have come almost a year after the startup raised its Series A funding round. FrontRow had bagged $14 Mn in the Series A round from investors such as Eight Roads Ventures, GSV, Lightspeed, and Elevation Capital. Overall, the startup has raised close to $17 Mn in funding till date.
Interestingly, layoffs at FrontRow have come at a time when edtech decacorn BYJU’S made a foray into celebrity-focused learning with ‘BYJU’S Xcel’.
The edtech sector emerged as the darling of investors during the Covid-19 pandemic (2020 onwards) and witnessed funding to the tune of $8.4 Bn during the two years. The funding boom also helped the sector produce 5 unicorns. However, amidst the funding winter of 2022, the sector is now struggling with a funding crunch.
The decline in funding has forced edtech startups to take various cost-cutting measures, including layoffs. Indian edtech startups have laid off over 7,000 employees in 2022 so far, the highest compared to any other sector—besides, startups like Lido Learning, Crejo.Fun, Udaay, and SuperLearn shut their operations this year.
