Online math tutoring platform Cuemath has laid off 100 employees or nearly 12.5% of its 800-strong staff, becoming the latest entity to join the flurry of layoffs in India’s startup ecosystem.
The Bengaluru-based edtech startup’s founder Manan Khurma has also returned as the company’s full-time chief executive officer (CEO). The latest moves come as Cuemath aims to restructure its operations and focus on its core business strategies.
“Given the need to deeply focus on building a great learning and consumer experience (LCX), I will get back into the role of running the company day-to-day as CEO,” Khurma said in a LinkedIn post.
Cuemath’s current CEO Vivek Sunder will transition from his full-time role to continue to work with the company in an advisory capacity in areas like acquisition funnels and GTM (go-to-market) strategies.
While announcing the company-wide layoffs, Khurma said that some functions and roles will also be rationalised. “While this will impact some talented people who have contributed a lot to Cuemath, we are committed to supporting our affected colleagues with everything they need to ensure a smooth transition into the next phase of their professional journey.”
Founded in 2013 by Khurma, Cuemath offers technology-driven after-school math learning programs for children in more than 70 countries. The company had raised $57 million in a funding round led by Alpha Wave in June last year, doubling its valuation to $407 million. The round also saw participation from existing investors Lightrock India, Sequoia Capital India, Alphabet independent growth fund CapitalG, Manta Ray and Unitus.
In the financial year ended March 2022, the company saw its loss growing nearly 65% to Rs 217 crore from Rs 131 crore in the fiscal before. On the other hand, its revenues soared about 63% year-on-year in FY22 to Rs 148 crore.
Layoffs at Cuemath come at a time when edtech companies are handing out pink slips to their employees in huge numbers. In the face of challenging market conditions, layoffs have become increasingly common among edtech companies, with education moving back to offline from online posing significant challenges for startups, particularly those operating in the business-to-customer (B2C) sector.
For instance, Unacademy laid off nearly 12% of its workforce, with the company reducing its total employee count to under 3,000. Another edtech startup that has recently sacked employees in Teachmint. The Vulcan Capital-backed startup reportedly laid off nearly 70 employees early this month.