BENGALURU: Edtech company BYJU’S group companies-WhiteHat Jr and Toppr, together have laid off around 500 employees. This layoff comes at a time when the edtech start-ups are struggling and laying off employees citing cost-cutting measures, realigning business and a capital crunch.
BYJU’S acquired online coding platform WhiteHat Jr in 2020. The start-up has laid off around 300 employees. Earlier in April, close to 250 employees resigned when the company asked them to return to the office.
When asked about the layoff, WhiteHat Jr spokesperson said, to realign with our business priorities, we are optimising our team to accelerate results and best position the business for long-term growth. Another group company of BYJU’S, Toppr, a learning platform, has laid off around 200 employees. Last year, BYJU’S had acquired Toppr for $150 million.
Toppr provides a learning app for kindergarten to K-12 students. On layoff, BYJU’S spokesperson said, “To recalibrate our business priorities and accelerate our long-term growth, we are optimising our teams across our group companies.”
Recently, edtech unicorn Vedantu fired 424 employees, and it is expecting fund shortage in the coming quarters. It said capital will be scarce for the coming quarters. Apart from Vedantu, FrontRow and Unacademy have also laid off many of its employees. Another edtech start-up Udayy, which started in April 2020 during the pandemic period, has shut down its operations.