Edtech startup Adda247 terminates 300 employees across all departments: Report

Sources with knowledge of the development told the media that edtech startup Adda247 has let go of 250–300 employees across all of its divisions. At the business supported by WestBridge Capital in recent years, this is the first layoff.

The UPSC-focused edtech platform StudyIQ, which Adda247 purchased in December 2021 for about $20 million, was letting go of at least 100 to 150 employees. “Major verticals such as sales, content and faculty at Adda247 also saw layoff of about 150 employees,” according to a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media.

In October of last year, Adda247 secured $35 million in funding from a group of investors including Info Edge, Asha Edu Tech, and JM Financial. Westbridge and Google also participated.

Along with Dunzo, it is notable that Google is a direct investor in one of the few Indian startups. Typically, the search engine giant supports startups through its investment arm CapitalG.

Adda247 has raised more than $60 million and had a last-round valuation of $175 million, according to startup data intelligence platform TheKredible.

According to sources, the fired employees were asked to leave immediately.

“The downsizing was done to extend the runway as the funding tap has dried up for the edtech companies and the investment environment is unlikely to improve for the sector,” said another source who also requested anonymity. “The exercise was abrupt and there was no townhall or any communication from the human resources department.”

Adda247 is a test preparation platform for public sector (government) jobs such as railways, banking, SSC, and public sector jobs with a focus on tier II & tier III that was founded by Anil Nagar and Saurabh Bansal. In the recent years, it has also begun to put more emphasis on K-12, JEE and NEET, and GATE preparations.

In FY22, Adda247’s revenue increased by 68.3% to Rs 61.5 crore from Rs 36.55 crore in FY21. Additionally, its losses increased by 90% to Rs 28.8 crore in FY22 from Rs 15.2 crore the year before. The business has not yet submitted its annual report for the FY23 fiscal year.