Softbank-backed edtech has cut off full-time sales and marketing personnel.
Unacademy, the IPO-bound edtech unicorn, has laid off almost 600 employees, accounting for nearly 10% of its workforce, according to VCCircle, LiveMint’s sister publication.
Softbank-backed edtech has cut off full-time personnel from its sales and marketing teams, as well as a few contract employees and educators or tutors.
“Based on the results of many reviews, a tiny portion of the employee, contractor, and educator jobs were re-evaluated owing to role redundancy and performance, as is usual for any company of our size and scale,” a spokesman for Unacademy stated.
According to the representative, the “business has in good faith assured they receive certain supplementary perks and a generous severance package.”
Unacademy received $440 million in August last year, led by sovereign wealth fund Temasek, valuing the company at $3.4 billion. Unacademy has received funding from worldwide venture capital (VC) firms such as Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management, and SoftBank, among others.
