In light of the unfavorable macroenvironment for startups, edtech company Cuemath has let go of more than 100 employees. The Google-backed company gave pink slips to about 100 workers in May.
“We’ve taken the difficult decision to reduce the size of our team as part of a restructuring exercise across the company. In this process, we will be bidding goodbye to 100+ talented Cuemath employees,” a Cumath spokesperson said in a statement.
“Over the past few months, we have made a lot of good progress – on making our product experience stronger, growing our revenue base, and improving key operating metrics, while still keeping costs under control. We are one of the few edtech players that have very healthy renewal rates, which is a good indicator of our product’s effectiveness,” the spokesperson added.
Cuemath recently changed its management structure after the most recent round of layoffs. While the previous CEO Vivek Sundar kept his position as a co-founder of the company, the company hired Manan Khurma to take over the role of chief executive.
The edtech company planned to raise $100 million but ended up only raising $57 million in June 2022 with a $400 million valuation. The company helps students get ready for school and competitive exams by providing one-on-one Math lessons for the K–12 market.
The firm is aware that the unfavorable macro-environment for startups, particularly in the edtech sector, will persist for an undetermined period of time, the spokesperson said. This prompted the company to reevaluate its strategic objectives and opt for a more sustainable growth course.
Cumath’s revenue increased by 63.1% to Rs 148.05 crore for the fiscal year ending March 2022 from Rs 90.77 crore the previous year. But during that time, losses jumped by 66% to Rs 216.6 crore. The company has not yet submitted its FY23 audited financial statements.
Several startups have had to reevaluate their sustainability strategies as a result of the so-called funding winter, including reducing workforce as a cost-cutting measure. Occasionally, startups have conducted several rounds of layoffs. For instance, the Google-backed company Dunzo and the edtech firm Byju’s have each experienced three rounds of layoffs this year. This year, employees were let go at both the short video platform Chingari and edtech Skill Lync.
