Edtech unicorn LEAD lays off more employees

Mumbai-based edtech unicorn LEAD has laid off more employees, just five months after reducing its workforce by around 100 people.

Earlier this week, the edtech firm is reported to have laid off about 60 employees, mainly from the tech and product teams, according to Inc42, which was the first to report the development.

“We have grown 2X this year and are hiring for growth. If projects don't meet success criteria or don't fit our strategic roadmap, teams are either reassigned or asked to seek other opportunities," a company spokesperson told YourStory on Wednesday. "This is a regular business activity and a normal churn of 1-2% in an organisation of 2,000 people."

LEAD, however, did not share the exact number of employees laid off this week and the teams in which they worked.

The edtech firm’s second round of workforce reduction in five months comes a few days after it entered into an agreement with London-headquartered learning firm Pearson to acquire the latter’s local K-12 learning business in India. 

The development also comes at a time when edtech unicorns are witnessing losses, laying off employees, slowing expansion plans, and trying to conserve cash amid a funding winter.

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Last month, LEAD raised $4.2 million in a debt round from venture debt firm Alteria Capital. In January 2022, the edtech company raised $100 million in a Series E funding round led by WestBridge Capital and GSV Ventures at a valuation of $1.1 billion.

After joining the unicorn club in January last year, the company announced an employee stock ownership liquidation plan of nearly $3 million for its employees. But, in August, like many other companies in the edtech sector, LEAD laid off around 100 employees to cut costs.

LEAD’s standalone loss widened over three-fold to Rs 397.1 crore in the financial year 2021-22 from Rs 126.1 crore in 2020-21. Its revenue more than doubled to Rs 133.2 crore in FY22 from Rs 57.1 crore in FY21.