Tag: Unacademy

Unacademy’s Graphy cuts about 30% jobs; company denies layoffs, cites performance as reason

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Edtech giant Unacademy’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform Graphy has laid off about 20-30% of its workforce, or nearly 50 employees. The news was first reported by Inc42 which claimed that Graphy has been struggling to meet revenue targets, prompting a restructuring within the company.

However, in a statement to CNBC-TV18, the company said that the job cuts happened based on performance and had nothing to do with layoffs or revenue growth plans. 

“At Graphy, we are committed to growth and have a strong belief in our mission to empower creators and educators to scale their online brands and business by launching their online courses and selling them through our platform. We continue to make significant strides in achieving our goals, and our commitment to our mission is unwavering,” a Graphy spokesperson told CNBC-TV18.

“Our employees echo this commitment and are working steadfastly towards our mission. We have not done any layoffs and we remain focused on enhancing our team’s performance and overall productivity so we can continue to compound our growth,” it added.

The development comes after Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal praised Graphy, which provides learning management system services to edtech creators. Mujal in a tweet claimed that the creators were earning about $3 million per month (₹24 crore) by selling courses on Graphy.

In January, Graphy CEO Sumit Jain tweeted that the company has achieved operational profitability. The company’s FY22 revenue stood at ₹8.86 crore against a loss of ₹3.6 crore.

Earlier, Unacademy laid off several employees from its other flagship group companies. In January, the edtech platform laid off 40 employees, or 20% of its workforce, from Relevel. In June last year, Unacademy fired nearly 150 employees, or about 2.6% of the workforce from PrepLadder, as part of a performance improvement programme (PIP).

After firing nearly 350 employees in November last year, Unacademy announced to reduce the size of the team by 12% or more than 350 employees in March this year.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Madras High Court restrains Google from delisting Bharat Matrimony and 13 other apps from Play Store

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Madras High Court has temporarily restrained Google from delisting matrimony.com, which is operated by Bharat Matrimony, along with 13 other digital companies on its play store. A two-judge bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice PD Audikesavalu granted the interim injunction while hearing the ongoing final arguments over a batch of appeals filed by Bharat Matrimony and others, who were challenging a single-judge bench order denying the relief earlier, according to a New Indian Express report.

A single judge of the High Court on August 8 dismissed 14 out of the 16 pleas of Indian start-ups and tech companies, which included Bharat Matrimony, Shaadi.com and Unacademy, against Google’s app billing policy. However, while dismissing the petitions, Justice S Sounthar said that this issue comes under the jurisdiction of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the remedy available under the Competition Act is much more comprehensive.

The court held that since the petitioners allege abuse of dominant position by Google, the CCI has jurisdiction to adjudicate on the same. However, the single-judge bench had rejected Google’s plea that the lawsuits should be filed in California, United States.

The dispute started after Google recently asked all app developers to use its Google Play Billing System (GPBS) for app transactions, including paid app downloads and in-app purchases. In GPBS, app developers are charged a commission of 15 to 30 percent for the services that Google offers. However, Google’s new billing system offers users to opt for an alternative billing option besides the GPBS.

Bharat Matrimony and other app developers had moved the Madras High Court opposing this billing system of the American tech giant. The petitioners pleaded for an injunction restraining Google parent Alphabet Inc. from removing the apps from the Google Play Store.

The matter will come up for further hearing before the two-judge bench of the High Court on August 23.

MADRAS HIGH COURT TEMPORARILY RESTRAINS GOOGLE FROM DELISTING MATRIMONY, 13 OTHERS FROM PLAY STORE

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Unacademy sacks tutor over ‘vote for educated’ remark, says ‘classroom is not a place to…’

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Edtech startup Unacademy landed in a controversy after sacking a teacher who allegedly advised students to vote for “educated candidates.”

The tutor in question Karan Sangwan reportedly told students in an online class that it was crucial to choose leaders who were “padhe-likhe” (educated) and who focused on substantial issues rather than superficial changes.

Sangwan’s statement, however, stirred a controversy after a section of users posted the clip on social media platforms, calling for action to be taken against him. Following this, Unacademy sacked Sangwan, who teaches judicial services aspirants.

Unacademy’s co-founder, Roman Saini, defended the company’s decision in a tweet stating the classroom should not serve as a platform for sharing personal opinions and views that could potentially sway learners’ perspectives.

He stressed on the importance of maintaining a code of conduct to ensure unbiased knowledge delivery. He added that the decision to terminate Sangwan’s employment was based on a breach of this Code of Conduct. The situation has “forced” the firm to part ways with the tutor, he said.

Meanwhile, Sangwan addressed the controversy on his personal YouTube channel and announced plans to share more information on August 19. He expressed concern for his students, especially those preparing for judicial services examinations, who were now facing consequences due to the controversy.

Several political leaders have also taken to social media platforms reacting to the decision of Unacademy.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted on the microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter) questioning whether encouraging people to support educated candidates could be considered a crime. In a tweet in Hindi, he said, “If someone is illiterate, I respect them. But public representatives cannot be illiterate. This is the era of science and technology. Illiterate public representatives can never build the modern India of the 21st century.”

क्या पढ़े लिखे लोगों को वोट देने की अपील करना अपराध है? यदि कोई अनपढ़ है, व्यक्तिगत तौर पर मैं उसका सम्मान करता हूँ। लेकिन जनप्रतिनिधि अनपढ़ नहीं हो सकते। ये साइंस और टेक्नोलॉजी का ज़माना है। 21वीं सदी के आधुनिक भारत का निर्माण अनपढ़ जनप्रतिनिधि कभी नहीं कर सकते। https://t.co/YPX4OCoRoZ

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 17, 2023

Meanwhile, Y Sathish Reddy, Chairman of the Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation, joined the conversation by condemning Unacademy’s decision. Reddy, via a post on X, criticised the suspension of the teacher and demanded a proper explanation from the edtech firm.

With all due respect to #Unacademy, it is highly inappropriate to suspend a teacher who simply requested not to vote for illiterates.

They are liable for a proper explanation! #UninstallUnacademy pic.twitter.com/mmd5wK1YZj

— YSR (@ysathishreddy) August 17, 2023

Many academicians and students have also come out in support of Sangwan, alleging Unacademy’s decision was a hasty one taken under pressure.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Unacademy teacher sacked over urging students to ‘elect educated candidates’ video; Kejriwal reacts

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Unacademy has sacked a teacher, Karan Sangwan, who appealed students to vote for educated candidates, with the edtech firm saying that classroom is not a place to share personal opinions and views.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also weighed on the issue and wondered whether asking people to vote for educated person is a crime.

Unacademy co-founder Roman Saini said that Sangwan was in breach of contract and therefore the company had to part ways with him. Sangwan has started his own YouTube channel and announced that he will post details around the controversy on August 19.

“From the past few days a video has been going viral due to which I am in controversy and because of that controversy my several students who are preparing for judicial services examinations are facing a lot of consequences. Along with them I have to also face consequences,” Sangwan said.

In the controversial video mentioned by Sangwan, he appealed to students to vote for educated candidates next time.

Saini in a tweet on the matter said Unacademy is an education platform that is deeply committed to imparting quality education.

“To do this we have in place a strict Code of Conduct for all our educators with the intention of ensuring that our learners have access to unbiased knowledge. Our learners are at the centre of everything we do. The classroom is not a place to share personal opinions and views as they can wrongly influence them. In the current situation, we were forced to part ways with Karan Sangwan as he was in breach of the Code of Conduct,” Saini said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a message posted on X said, “Is it a crime to appeal to vote for educated people? If someone is illiterate, personally I respect them. But public representatives cannot be illiterate. This is the era of science and technology. Illiterate public representatives can never build the modern India of 21st century.”

Y Sathish Reddy, chairman of Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation, also posted on X, “With all due respect to #Unacademy, it is highly inappropriate to suspend a teacher who simply requested not to vote for illiterates. They are liable for a proper explanation! #UninstallUnacademy.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Startup Digest: Simpl CEO on layoffs, Unacademy to achieve group-level profitability by April-end, Netflix to invest $2.5Bn in South Korea

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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“Overestimated the growth of ecommerce,” says Simpl CEO on layoffs

Layoffs have become a common occurrence as startups tighten their belts to deal with market uncertainty and an extended funding winter. Last week, BNPL soonicorn Simpl trimmed 25 percent of its workforce totalling to over 150 employees in a bid to reign in cut costs and extend cash runway.

In an exclusive chat with CNBC-TV18, Co-founder and CEO Nitya Sharma said he was left with no choice but to take the hard decision as the company overestimated the growth of e-commerce. “I had to take the hard decision to say goodbye to very talented people who got us where we are today. One thing we realised as we were planning for next year was —  the growth we were expecting in the e-commerce space in the next two years was definitely an optimistic assessment,” Sharma added.

He further stated, “As we stood this year, we realised we need to become operationally more efficient so that we are able to focus on the most important customer priorities. There’s so much room to cover in the e-commerce space. The macro-economic condition last year was very different and allowed us to think we should probably hire a lot more people and work on many things parallelly.”

The CEO said there are no plans of further job cuts within the company and the focus will be on performance and growing the business.

Unacademy to achieve group-level profitability by April-end: Gaurav Munjal

Edtech unicorn Unacademy will achieve group-level profitability by the end of this month, co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal said in a Slack message. Unacademy expects its revenue from core business (online test preparation) to decline 15 percent in the calendar year 2023, even as it sees a 26 percent growth on a company level

The founder in a series of messages, also shared that he expects a revenue of Rs 1,250 crore in 2023 on a consolidated basis, up from Rs 992 crore in 2022. The screenshot of these messages was viewed by CNBC-TV18. It sees its core operating revenue dropping to Rs 620 crore in FY23 from Rs 732 crore from 2022, he told employees.

Munjal revealed in the messages that the company is cash flow positive and will be so for the next 12 months. Moreover, by the end of 2023, the edtech major will have a cash balance of Rs 1,977 crore. Keeping in mind its current burn rate (Rs 17 crore), he noted that they have at least 116 months’ worth of runaway.

Startups demand more exemption from angel tax: Report

The startup industry has urged the Finance Ministry to either do way or at least increase the Rs 25 crore threshold limit which exempts them from the so-called angel tax.

The industry says only a small percentage of startups will be able to meet this limit, reported the Economic Times.

The Centre is gathering inputs from various stakeholders and is expected to come up with a detailed clarification on angel tax in the next few days, the report added.

Lokal raises Rs 120 crore in Series B round to launch new categories and product capabilities

Lokal, a hyperlocal content platform has bagged Rs 120 crore in a Series B funding round from new investors Global Brain and Sony Innovation Fund, with participation from India Quotient and other existing investors.

The company said it will use the fresh funds to grow in existing markets, launch new categories and product capabilities, further strengthen the product and technology teams.

Including the current funding round, the startup till date has raised over Rs 225 Crore in funding and has 110+ employees with headquarters in Bangalore.

Chanakya Opportunities launches Rs 100 crore SME focussed fund

Chanakya Opportunities Fund I, a SEBI Registered Category II Alternative Investment Fund, has launched a Rs 100 crore sector-agnostic SME-focused fund with a green shoe option of another Rs 100 crore. The fund is a part of Chanakya Fund Trust, which received approval from markets regulator SEBI to launch a Cat 2 AIF in March this year.

The fund will invest in profitable SME companies with high-potential opportunities in unorganized sectors. About 51% of the corpus will be invested in unlisted SME companies, termed startups in manufacturing, consumer products, and technology, a statement said. It will provide exit opportunities through primary markets as it intends to invest in companies that have the potential to get listed on SME exchange with small ticket size IPO.

“We are planning to raise Rs 100 Crores in the first year. This is a close-ended fund,and we will be accepting subscriptions for the tenure of 5 Years from the First Close with a Maximum Of Two Extensions Of 1 Year Each,” said Kresha Gupta, Founder and Fund Manager of Chanakya Fund Trust.

InspeCity gets $1.5M in Pre-Seed funding round

Spacetech startup InspeCityhas raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Speciale Invest, co-led by Antler India and Veda VC. Anicut Capital, DeVC India and others, also participated in the round.

The funds will be used to develop the tech stack within the company and attract quality talent to accomplish the mission and vision, a statement said.

“This will tremendously help us further develop our technology for in-orbit servicing and autonomous robotic platforms. Our vision is to create a new economy in space and build human habitats that transcend the limitations of our current planetary systems,” said Arindrajit Chowdhury, CEO, Inspecity.

Social impact startup Haqdarshak raises fresh funds to connect citizens with govt schemes

Social impact startup Haqdarshak, which connects citizens with government schemes, has announced a new investment to close its Pre-Series A1 round. The funding amount is undisclosed.

New institutional investors including Innovating Justice Fund and Village Capital-managed Financial Health Innovation Fund have joined the cap table along with 22 other investors. Earlier in January, Haqdarshak appeared on Shark Tank India (Season-2) and raised Rs 1 crore in funding.

The funds from this round will be utilized for investment in tech and talent with a focus on growing the company’s latest product—the Yojana Card, which is a digitally-enabled social security card for beneficiaries to access welfare services for their family and business via a single channel enabled by last-mile support.

Deciml raises bridge funding round from top investors and companies

Deciml, a micro-investing mobile application has secured a bridge round of funding from influencers, personalities, and companies across various industries. Some investors include Zakir Khan, Viraj Sawant, Saurabh Abbi, Abhishek Oswal, Chirag Chetan Gandhi, among others.

This round is an addendum to the pre-seed round raised in June 2022 of $1 million from strategic investors.

With the fresh funds, Deciml aims to expand into new product territories, improve its technology and app experience, and meet the investment needs of young Indians.

SaaS platform Kapture plans to double headcount in 12-18 months

Kapture, a SaaS-based Customer Experience platform has announced hiring plans across multiple positions and departments with a core focus on SEA, the Middle East, the US and India.

The company currently has a workforce of 200+ employees and plans to double the headcount in the next 12-18 months, a statement said. The firm added that Kapture has recorded 100% YoY which has played an instrumental role in driving revenue.

“We expect to grow at a similar clip going forward as well and are excited at the opportunities that we see in the future. Our focus is now to evolve into a more structured organization that’s prepared for the planned growth in the coming years. We are extremely bullish on Kapture as well as its entry into newer geographies in our core focus verticals,” said Sheshgiri Kamath, Co-Founder and CEO, Kapture.

BlackSoil records over 55% YoY Growth, invests $90 million in 40 Deals in FY23

BlackSoil, an alternative credit platform, saw its investments increase by more than 55 percent in in FY23 as compared to FY22. The investments in FY23 amounted to around $90 million across almost 40 deals, said the company, adding BlackSoil achieved more than 15 successful exits.

Investments in Q4 FY23 grew 45 percent and more than 65 percent in repayments compared to the corresponding period in FY22, the firm further added.

BlackSoil has made investments in FY23 its core sectors like fintech/finserv, agritech, B2B, consumer internet, healthcare/healthtech, SaaS, and IOT. It also invested in new-age sectors such as battery swapping (Battery Smart), OTA travel (Yatra.com), discount broking (Upstox), finserv marketplace (BankBazaar), healthtech (HealthPlix), deeptech (Tonbo Imaging) & fintech unicorn (MobiKwik).

ONDC to drive India’s digital consumption to $320-340 million by 2030: Report

Government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) may increase India’s digital consumption 5 fold from $60-70 billion in FY22 to $320-340 billion by 2030, said a report.

In the report which was launched with McKinsey & Company, ONDC said it will facilitate India to record 500 million digitally transacting consumers by 2030, increasing 3-4 times from 165 to 190 million in FY22.

India’s digital retail dominates only about 7 percent of the total retail market, with 165 million users. While for US and China, digital commerce is 16 and 30 per cent of the total retail economy, respectively. Lack of comfort with online shopping, alarmingly low penetration of business-to-business (B2B) sellers at 1-1.5 per cent, and high supply chain costs are the key challenges in India’s digital commerce ecosystem, added the report.

3one4 Capital elevates Nruthya Madappa to Partner

Early-stage venture capital firm 3one4 Capital has elevated Nruthya Madappa as a partner to drive growth of portfolio companies as well as identifying and supporting investee companies.

Madappa had joined the VC firm as principal and the head of growth and capital development in 2020. She was promoted as the director of the growth and capital vertical in February last year.

“Nruthya’s elevation is a testament to her unwavering dedication to the venture practice and her exceptional commitment to delivering consistent performance. We are proud to have her join our partnership and look forward to seeing her continue to drive outsized results for our portfolio companies,” said Pranav Pai, Founding Partner, 3one4 Capital.

GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY & STARTUP NEWS

Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, 15 others subject to EU content rules

Alibaba’s AliExpress, Amazon’s Marketplace, Apple’s App Store and 16 other tech companies will be subject to new EU online content rules as of August, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said.

The other 16 companies are booking.com, Facebook, Google Maps, Google Play, Google Search, Google Shopping, Instagram, Linkedin, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, Wikipedia, YouTube, Microsoft’s Bing and Zalando.

Under the landmark rules known as the Digital Services Act (DSA), the companies, all with more than 45 million monthly active users, are required to do risk management, conduct external and independent auditing, share data with authorities and researchers and adopt a code of conduct.

A US appeals court has upheld a federal court’s order that could force Apple to change payment practices in its App Store. Apple said it may appeal the decision, said a Reuters report.

Apple cannot ban links to outside App Store payments: US appeals court

The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeal upheld a 2021 order in an antitrust case brought by “Fortnite” creator Epic Games that could require Apple to allow developers to provide links and buttons for third-party in-app payment options and avoid paying sales commissions to the iPhone maker.

The appeals court sided with Apple on nine other matters in the case, agreeing with the trial court that Apple’s App Store rules do not violate antitrust laws and allowing its commissions of up 30% for in-app payments to stand.

Spotify’s monthly active users top 500 million, beat estimate

Spotify has crossed the half billion mark for monthly active users for the first time, helped by the music streaming company’s expansion into more markets.

The number of monthly active users rose to 515 million in the first quarter, beating Spotify’s guidance and analysts’ forecast of 500 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Premium subscribers, who account for most of its revenue, rose 15% to 210 million, topping estimates of 206 million. Its premium subscriber forecast of 217 million for the current quarter also beat expectations of 212 million. The company forecast monthly active users of 530 million.

Netflix to invest $2.5 billion in South Korea to make TV shows, movies

Netflix will invest $2.5 billion in South Korea over the next four years to produce Korean TV series, movies and unscripted shows, doubling its investment in the market since 2016.

The US streaming service made the announcement after a meeting between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. Yoon arrived in Washington on Monday for a six-day state visit.

President Yoon welcomed the investment as a “major opportunity” Netflix and the content industry of South Korea as the latter seeks to boost its cultural exports and influence.

Also Read: You can soon use the same WhatsApp account across multiple phones

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Unacademy layoffs: Read full text from CEO Gaurav Munjal’s letter

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Unacademy on Thursday announced another round of layoffs, cutting its workspace by 12 percent. The Bengaluru-based edtech firm cut 10 percent of its employees in November 2022. The recent news was confirmed in a letter by CEO Gaurav Munjal.

Here’s the full text from CEO Gaurav Munjal’s letter to Unacademy employees:

Dear team,

I never thought I would need to send out another message like this, but here I am. We have taken every step in the right direction to make our core business profitable, yet it’s not enough. We have to go further, we have to go deeper. Unfortunately, this has led me to take another difficult decision. We will be reducing the size of our team by 12% to ensure that we can meet the goals we are chasing in the current realities we face. I did not anticipate I would have to do this again, and I’m very sorry.

Today’s reality is a contrast from two years ago where we saw unprecedented growth because of the accelerated adoption of online learning. Today, the global economy is enduring a recession, funding is scarce and running a profitable business is key. We have to adapt to these changes, build and operate in a much leaner manner so we can truly create value for our users and shareholders.

I have conducted detailed reviews with every leader in the organisation to determine the size of the team in line with a sustainable cost structure, the skills necessary for today’s business needs and the direction each team has to take to work towards our key business goals and achieve profitability.

To those of our employees impacted by this decision, this is never the experience I hoped you would have had at Unacademy. I take complete responsibility for the way things have turned out. Your contributions to Unacademy have been pivotal in our journey so far and I will forever be indebted to you, for your faith in the leadership and the brand.

We will do our best to ensure that the parting employees receive the support they need during this time. This is how we are helping:

1. Severance pay equivalent of notice period and an additional one month’s pay

2. Accelerated vesting of one year for employees who have been with us for at least one year

3. Medical Insurance coverage for additional six months, i.e, until September 30

4. Dedicated placement and career support

For the next few days we will focus on helping our parting team members. I would like to request all leaders and teams to support this transition.

ALSO READ | Unacademy announces another round of layoffs, cuts 12% of staff

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Unacademy announces another round of layoffs, cuts 12% of staff

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Unacademy, the online learning platform based in India, has announced its second round of layoffs in less than a year. The company will reduce the size of its current team by 12 percent, according to a letter from Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal to employees. The company had laid off 10 percent of its workforce, amounting to 350 people, in November 2022.

Co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal confirmed the news in a letter to employees and said the decision was difficult but a necessary one.

Unacademy will give severance pay the equivalent of the notice period and an additional one month’s pay. They will also provide support to impacted employees, including accelerated vesting of one year, medical insurance coverage until September 30 and dedicated placement and career support, Munjal said.

In the letter, Munjal explained that the company had taken “every step in the right direction to make our core biz profitable, yet it’s not enough.” He cited the current realities of the global economy, which is enduring a recession and scarce funding as reasons for the layoffs.

ALSO READ | Unacademy to layoff 10% of its workforce amid funding challenges

“Today’s reality is a contrast from two years ago where we saw unprecedented growth because of the accelerated adoption of online learning. Today, running a profitable business is key,” Munjal said in a letter sent on Slack to employees.

Unacademy had already laid off 10 percent of its workforce in November 2022, as part of a cost-cutting measure. Munjal acknowledged in his latest letter that he did not anticipate having to make another round of layoffs.

“We have to adapt to these changes, build and operate in a much leaner manner so we can truly create value for our users and shareholders,” he wrote.

ALSO READ | From Meta to Amazon to Twitter — A round up of big tech layoffs in 2022

Unacademy, which is valued at $5.5 billion, has emerged as one of India’s leading edtech companies, offering courses in various disciplines, including competitive exams, language, and programming.

The Bengaluru-based company has raised more than $440 million in funding from investors, including SoftBank, Facebook and Sequoia Capital.

However, Unacademy’s latest move reflects the tough times that India’s edtech companies are facing. Last month, Byju’s, India’s most valuable edtech company, fired over 900 employees in fresh layoffs.

Unacademy now joins the list of companies including Google, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft, that have announced mass layoffs in 2023.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

SoftBank-backed Unacademy explores merger with Byju’s-owned Aakash

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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SoftBank-backed Unacademy is in talks for a potential merger with Byju’s-owned Aakash, three people familiar with the development said, portending a significant shakeup involving two of India’s most-valued edtech companies.

The deal, if it happens, will be a mix of cash and stock, with the merged entity exploring an IPO (initial public offering) instead of Aakash alone seeking a public listing, as is being contemplated now by Byju’s, the sources said.

The discussions are at an early stage and a transaction may not materialise but events have moved far enough for talks to take place over the last month between Byju’s founder Byju Raveendran and Unacademy founder Gaurav Munjal, Moneycontrol has learnt.

Also Read: Unacademy employees won’t get cash appraisals in 2023, to be rewarded with stock options

One of the persons cited above said only conversations have started and these haven’t reached a term sheet stage yet, while a second person cited above said common investors in both companies were keen to see a merger through, as the combined entity may present a more compelling case for a potential PO, creating a liquidity event for them. A term sheet is a nonbinding agreement that outlines terms and conditions for a potential investment.

While Munjal is expected to run the merged entity, Byju may get a board seat, the sources said.

Aakash and Byju’s flatly denied the merger talks. Unacademy declined to comment.

The two Bengaluru-based startups are rivals in the hyper-competitive edtech space, but they are backed by a bevy of common investors, among them General Atlantic, Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital. With new funding hard to come by but new rivals such as Noida-based PhysicsWallah gaining ground, a merger involving strong elements from their portfolio would allow investors to give Byju’s and Unacademy a better chance of fending off competition.

While Byju’s raised its last equity funding round in October 2022 at a flat $22 billion valuation, Unacademy last raised $440 million in August 2021, at a valuation of $3.4 billion. To date, Unacademy has raised more than $870 million to date, Byju’s has raised over $5 billion.

The potential merger comes even as Byju’s is in talks with bankers to list Aakash on the public bourses in India and is aiming for a valuation of $3-4 billion. Aakash had a revenue of around Rs 1,400 crore in FY22 (2021-22) and is expected to cross the Rs 2,500 crore mark this year, according to sources, and a $3 billion valuation will give it a 10x revenue multiple.

“It will be very hard for Aakash to list at a 10x multiple in this market, especially considering that it is not a digital-first business,” said one of the people quoted above.

“A potential merger with Unacademy would give it another Rs 1,400-1,500 crore of revenue. While it will also mean that Aakash will bring huge losses of Unacademy on its books, they might be able to figure out a way to navigate that by leveraging capabilities,” the person added.

If the deal goes through, Unacademy and Aakash will create one of the biggest coaching companies in India, having strong footholds in both offline and online test preparation segments. Currently, Unacademy has about 50 million active learners while Aakash has a student count of more than 2,50,000 across its 200 centers in India.

The merger deliberations come at a time when Byju’s is facing a liquidity crunch as its fundraising plans have gotten delayed due to a prolonged due diligence process according to a Bloomberg report. A part of this deal, about $100 million, will be in cash, which will help Byju’s, which is currently the world’s most-valued edtech startup, to tide over the immediate need for money, people quoted above said.

Also Read: BYJU’s in final talks to raise $250 million for a flat valuation: Report

Byju’s acquired Aakash Educational Services in April 2021 just before the second wave of Covid swamped India, shutting schools, colleges and physical tuition centers, which had just started reopening after the first wave. Byju’s had agreed to pay $950 million for the stock and cash deal.

Since then, Aakash is learnt to have grown about 50 percent in FY22 (2021-22) and is expected to grow another 50 percent this year. In November last year, Moneycontrol reported that Byju’s was looking to publicly list Aakash in India at 3x of its last known valuation. Earlier this month, a report by Bloomberg suggested that Byju’s was seeking to raise as much as $250 million through the issuance of convertible notes by Aakash Educational Services.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Unacademy employees won’t get cash appraisals in 2023, to be rewarded with stock options

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Edtech giant Unacademy has cancelled cash appraisals to its employees in another move to cut costs while startups, especially edtechs, are looking to become profitable amid a fund crunch, a report said on Thursday.

The SoftBank-backed firm will instead offer its employees stock options based on their performance, Gaurav Munjal, co-founder and CEO (chief executive officer) told employees in an internal channel on Slack of which Moneycontrol has seen a screenshot.

“We must continue to focus on profitability because when Unacademy does an IPO, it should do it with at least four quarters of profitability,” he said in the note. He added that he was aware the move was disheartening after putting in a lot of hard work but requested employees to understand that this was a phase.

While thousands of tech-based firms including peers like Byju’s are laying off employees to stave off the macro challenges, Unacademy already let go of more than 1,200 staffers since the start of 2022 across departments and cities. Prior to that, it halved its team from over 6,000 employees as of April last year to about 3,000 employees currently.

Also Read | View: The need to bridge gap between institutional learning and corporate expectations

“I do think that 2023 will be better than 2022 because we took actions faster than most companies in 2022. And I believe that we will have a lot of wins in 2023,” Munjal told employees in the note on February 2.

Earlier in January, the firm laid off 40 employees from its job guarantee vertical Relevel and transitioned it to NextLevel, a test product app, according to Moneycontrol.

The latest move comes at a time when the Indian edtech sector is seeing a gradual decline in demand after the industry boomed in 2020, with the pandemic hit and education moved online.

Also Read | View: How EdTech campaigns sell promise of bright future, sustainable career

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Startup Digest: Unacademy’s Relevel lays off 40 employees, LEAD sacks 60 more employees, Ola to shutdown Avail Finance app: Report &  Meta ‘rescinds’ full-time job offers amid recession fears

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Unacademy’s Relevel lays off 40 employees as it pivots from upskilling biz to tests product with NextLevel app

Edtech major Unacademy-run Relevel has laid off 40 employees as the firm shifts its focus from the upskilling business to “tests product” and a new product called NextLevel.

The layoffs account for 20 percent of Relevel’s workforce and the remaining 80 percent of will be absorbed by other businesses of Unacademy Group, said Unacademy’s CEO and Co-founder Guarav Munjal in an internal memo, accessed by CNBC-TV18.

“Existing Learner Cohorts won’t be impacted and Relevel’s team will continue to provide high quality learning experience and outcomes to the Learners enrolled in those. Relevel’s Core team will focus on building NextLevel,” added Munjal.

Also Read: Here’s a look at how 2022 panned out for the startup universe

The impacted employees will be extended the same benefits that were given to the 350 employees that were sacked by the company in November 2021. These are severance pay equivalent to the notice period and an additional two months, accelerated vesting, medical insurance and placement support, said Munjal.

With the latest round of layoffs, Unacademy has sacked more than 1,200 employees since the start of 2021.

Edtech unicorn LEAD sacks 60 employees in another round of layoffs

Edtech unicorn LEAD has sacked 60 employees in second round of layoffs in less than six months of letting go of about 100 employees. The company has fired employees from the tech and product teams in the current round, as per a report by Inc42.

“If projects don’t meet success criteria or don’t fit our strategic roadmap, teams are either re-assigned or asked to seek other opportunities. This is a regular business activity and a normal churn of 1-2 percent in an organisation of 2,000 people,” a LEAD spokesperson told CNBC-TV18.

The spokesperson added that they have grown 2X this year and are hiring for growth. The sackings come days after the startup reported a net loss of Rs 397.1 crore for FY22, which widened over three-fold from the previous year.

Ola to shutdown Avail Finance app & integrate it with Ola Money: Report

Ola Financial Services has ceased lending to customers, largely blue-collar workers, through Avail Finance app, the Economic Times reported, citing sources.

As per the report, the company stopped disbursing loans in December. Only the collection of loans will take place throughout the year, which will be completed in December 2023, as Avail offered one-year loans.

The firm is working on a new lending service that will be made available to customers through the Ola app and the Ola Money app, it added.

Supreme Court agrees to hear Google plea seeking stay on CCI’s penalty order

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a plea by Google seeking a stay on a Rs 1,337-crore penalty order slapped by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on the tech company, which the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) refused to stay.

The SC will hear the plea on January 16. Refusing to stay the CCI order, the NCLAT had directed Google to deposit 10 percent of the Rs 1,337 crore penalty amount. CNBC-TV18 had earlier reported Google was set to challenge the Android antitrust ruling in SC.

Google cited urgency in its plea with the SC as the CCI order comes into effect in almost a week, on January 19. Google told the court the CCI order was “extraordinary” and contained “errors”, including instances of plagiarism from competition proceedings in the European Union. Google also said NCLAT’s order was “unlawful, incorrect”, and there was “no application of kind” in refusing the stay plea.

But even as SC agreed to hear Google’s plea, the company received another blow on January 11, when the NCLAT rejected Google’s plea seeking a stay of a second CCI order against it. NCLAT observed that Google “may be hurting other payment aggregators by insisting on payment only through its system in the App Store”. In this case, also, NCLAT has directed Google to pay 10 percent of the penalty amount in four weeks and ruled out any interim relief. The NCLAT will do a final hearing on April 17.

Cabinet clears incentive scheme to promote RuPay debit cards, low value BHIM UPI

The cabinet has cleared incentives to promote RuPay debit card and United Payments Interface (UPI) transactions. As part of this, Rs 2,600 crore will be provided as an incentive scheme for rupee digital transactions. This will primarily be targeted for the unorganized sector, MSME and farmer community.

Earlier, CNBC Awaaz reported that this incentive will be given so that more and more people can adopt digital payments.

Also Read: Startling Valuation, Stricter Regulation: Indian fintechs are homebound

In today’s time, India has the most effective payments market in the world. This development is the result of the initiative of the government and the innovation of the companies of the digital payment ecosystem. This scheme will promote research and development in the fintech space, the report said. This will help the government to make digital payments more effective in different parts of the country.

In another development, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has asked the UPI ecosystem to allow users from some countries with non-resident account types like non-resident external (NRE) and non-resident ordinary (NRO) accounts with international mobile numbers to transact through UPI. In simple words, this means that non-resident Indians (NRIs) will soon be able to make payments in UPI without having to get an Indian mobile number.

Meta, FADA to digitally skill 3,000 auto dealers

Meta has announced a partnership with the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) to upskill more than 3,000 auto dealers across the country to build a social presence and digitise using its various platforms.

The ‘Move with Meta’ skilling and enablement programme, announced during the Auto Expo 2023,’ will provide auto dealers across the country an easy and low-cost access to best-in-class digital expertise.

“Over the last two years, we’ve enabled more than 2,600 dealers to digitise their outreach and experiences through our unique solutions and tools,” said Saugato Bhowmik, Director-Auto, CPG, and D2C for Meta in India.

FADA will play a pivotal role in ensuring the seamless delivery of the ‘Move with Meta’ programme across geographies to enhance the digital prowess and proficiency of automotive dealers of all sizes.

The NEW Shop plans to create 5000 job opportunities by 2024

The NEW Shop, an omnichannel convenience commerce company, has announced its plan to hire 5000 employees pan-India by June 2024. The firm said it intends to hire across roles and levels including supply chain, business development, sales, technology, training, procurement and operations.

This is a strategic move by the brand aligned with its expansion plans of opening 700+ stores within the next 18 months, the statement said.

The NEW Shop said it will be hiring resources in the fields of marketing, sales and operations within its headquarters in Delhi. For the remaining roles, it will be sourcing regional talent. Approximately, 5 percent of the overall hiring will be allocated to filling senior leadership positions.

Gupshup partners with Experian to offer free credit scores on WhatsApp

Gupshup, a conversational engagement platform, has partnered with Experian, a credit bureau to offer credit scores to consumers on WhatsApp.

With the launch of this initiative, the number of consumers checking their credit scores at Experian has reportedly grown almost two-fold, the firm said in a statement.

Consumers can check their credit scores for free by sending a ‘Hi’ message to Experian India’s WhatsApp number. This service is available 24×7 for consumers. Going forward, additional value-added services will also be made available that will prompt consumers in real-time if there is a change in their score, the company stated.

The services will be extended to financial institutions so that they can embed WhatsApp-based credit report access with consumer consent.

GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY & STARTUP NEWS

Meta ‘rescinds’ full-time job offers amid recession fears: Report

Meta has reportedly rescinded full-time employment offers to some people, which is a first for the company as it never took back job offers in its history.

According to tech writer Gergely Orosz, Meta has rescinded job offers in London, “as I confirmed with developers impacted. New grads with offers due to start in February have been taken back in bulk. I know of about 20 people so far”. “This is the first time I’m aware that Meta is taking back signed, FTE (full-time employment) offers,” Orosz said in a tweet.

Meta’s position until now was that FTE offers are “NOT at risk, up to even a week ago”. In October this year, recruiters made it clear to candidates worried about their Meta offers that these are safe, according to Orosz.

Meta, that saw 11,000 employees being shown the door, has hit India teams too, IANS reported.

Scale AI cuts 20% of its workforce, announces CEO Alexandr Wang

US-based software firm Scale AI, laid off 20 percent of its workforce this week. The decision was announced by founder and CEO Alexandr Wang via a company blog post.

“We saw strong sales growth through 2021 and 2022. As a result, we increased headcount assuming the massive growth would continue. However, the macro environment has changed dramatically in recent quarters, which is something I failed to predict,” Wang said.

The company did not say how many people work at Scale AI. However, back in February 2022, the company told TechCrunch it employed about 450 people.

Employees who are affected will receive a minimum of eight weeks of severance and three months of healthcare.

In addition, the company is waiving the one-year equity cliff for employees with less than one year of tenure and offering immigration assistance to those on visas that require continued employment.

As part of other changes, the company plans to set significant operating expense reduction targets for each function, adjust its hiring targets, and re-evaluate any new offices.

FTX seeks court rulings on asset sales, customer privacy

Crypto exchange FTX will ask a US bankruptcy court to allow it to auction off pieces of its business and to keep customer names secret for at least six months while it works to recover funds lost in what was allegedly a huge fraud, Reuters reported.

FTX will ask US Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey in Delaware to approve procedures for selling affiliates LedgerX, Embed, FTX Japan and FTX Europe as a way of raising funds for customers, who have lost potentially billions of dollars.

The four companies FTX intends to sell are relatively independent from the broader FTX group, and each has its own segregated customer accounts and separate management teams, according to FTX court filings.

The crypto exchange has said it is not committed to selling any of the companies, but that it received dozens of unsolicited offers. FTX expects to generate additional bids by scheduling auctions in February and March.

TikTok CEO seeks to reassure on EU rules on privacy, child safety

TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew on a visit to Brussels sought to reassure the European Union the app would respect the bloc’s increasingly stringent tech rules and commitments to privacy and child safety.

The short-video app, which is owned by Chinese technology conglomerate ByteDance, has for the last three years worked to counter U.S. concerns over whether the personal data of its citizens can be accessed and its content manipulated by China’s Communist Party or any other entity under Beijing’s influence.

“The objective of the meeting with TikTok was to review how the company is preparing for complying with its obligations under the European Commission’s regulation, namely the Digital Services Act (DSA) and possibly under the Digital Markets Act (DMA),” the EU executive said in a statement.

“At the meeting the parties also discussed GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and matters of privacy and data transfer obligations with a reference to the recent press reporting on aggressive data harvesting and surveillance in the U.S,” it said.

Tiktok said it was committed to complying with EU rules in a transparent way. “It’s a top priority for us to be ready for this,” its vice-president for public policy, Europe, Theo Bertram, said in a tweet.

Apple to start using in-house screens from 2024: Report

Apple is planning to start using its own custom displays in its mobile devices from 2024 onwards in an attempt to bring more components in-house, Bloomberg News reported.

The company intends to begin by swapping out the display in the highest-end Apple Watches by the end of next year. Apple plans to eventually bring these displays to other devices as well, including the iPhone, according to the report.

The tech giant is aiming to reduce its reliance on other partners such as Samsung Electronics and LG. The report added that the screens would upgrade the current OLED standard to a technology called microLED.

Also Read: Quick commerce in 2022: The year of learning to be fast and frugal

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow