Edtech Startup Udayy Shuts Down, Lays Off All Employees The platform has conducted more than 130,000 classes with over 200 qualified teachers and 50,000 students used its services
By Teena Jose
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Udayy, an edtech platform that offers online learning program for grades 1 to 8, has fired all the employees as the business slows down due to the resumption offline classes.
Udayy's co-founder and CEO, Saumya Yadav, as stated in a news report quoted as saying, "It was a very difficult decision but we did it in the best way possible so everyone finds a good place. We started during the pandemic and were doing very well. But when the offline schools opened up, growth stalled and it became very expensive to get new customers and service the old ones."
The platform has conducted more than 130,000 classes with over 200 qualified teachers and 50,000 kids are using its services in 2022, as per the company's website.
Udayy raised around $10 million from US-based Norwest Venture Partners in February and raised $2.5 million in Seed funding a year ago. As per company's statement, they have returned around $8 to $8.5 million to the investors. Also, all the employees including teachers have been paid severance amounts and almost everyone has been placed elsewhere.
"We reached out to about 30 companies and were successful in securing a job for all our employees. We have refunded all our customers their money. We had raised around $13 million and had used up around $4 to $4.5 million, remaining around $8 to $8.5 million will be returned to the investors. The legal process is going on and it should take around two months to complete." Yadav added in the statement.
Many tech platforms have either shut down or restructured their operations. In February, edtech startup Lido Learning shuts down citing similar reasons. Last week, edtech platform FrontRow restructured its operational mode and announced the layoffs. Some other edtech firms are also adopting a slow pace in funding and some of them, which includes Unacademy and Vedantu, have reduced its employees to manage the operational cost.
Amidst all these, many edtech platforms are currently transforming into hybrid learning models that includes both online and offline mode of learning. Commenting on the same in the statement, Yadav said, "We evaluated the offline mode of learning. However, we were at a very early stage and the growth through the offline would have been equally difficult."
Advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and augmented reality are expected to drive the global edtech industry through game-based learning, hybrid models and mobile-based learning, as per market research.
