Bengaluru-based edtech startup Teachmint has conducted its second round of layoffs since the onset of funding winter, with over 70 employees affected, according to sources. The Lightspeed-backed startup informed employees about the layoffs during a town hall held by top management, including founders, on May 4, 2023. Employees in talent acquisition, tech, and support roles, as well as quality analysts, were impacted during this round of layoffs. Teachmint is offering three months’ salary as a severance package to the impacted employees.
Teachmint confirmed the layoffs but did not disclose the number of affected employees. In a statement, the startup said they were working to provide support to impacted employees. “Some roles have been unfortunately impacted as we work on increasing structural efficiencies in our operations. We have proactively communicated to the impacted colleagues and are working on providing them comprehensive support,” a Teachmint spokesperson said.
This round of layoffs comes almost five months after Teachmint let go of around 45 employees as part of its restructuring exercises. Teachmint, like several other startups in the edtech space, is facing difficulties in generating revenue and controlling costs. The startup’s net loss surged 24X to INR 131.7 Cr in FY22 from INR 5.5 Cr in FY21, while its revenue from operations stood at INR 77.45 Lakhs in FY22. The startup’s FY22 advertising expenses also grew 14X to INR 36.76 Cr from INR 2.66 Cr in FY21. In recent times, the startup has cut down on its marketing expenses to increase its cash runway.
In March, Teachmint’s CTO Anshuman Kumar quit the edtech startup to focus on his new venture Duolop. Teachmint, founded in 2020 by Mihir Gupta, Payoj Jain, Divyansh Bordia, and Kumar, is an online, video-first teaching platform that helps teachers digitize their classrooms. It is backed by marquee investors such as Lightspeed India, Rocketship.vc, Goodwater Capital, and Better Capital, among others. To date, the startup has raised over $118 Mn in multiple rounds, including $78 Mn in its Series B round led by Rocketship.vc and Vulcan Capital in October 2021 at a valuation of over $500 Mn.
Since the beginning of 2022, around 20 edtech startups have conducted layoffs to cut costs and remain afloat in these testing times. According to source, over 9,000 employees have been laid off from the edtech sector alone.
