Unacademy's CFO Resigns Amid Edtech Sector Turbulence

Unacademy, one of India's leading edtech companies, has announced the resignation of its Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Subramanian Ramachandran, marking the latest in a series of high-level departures from the company. This development comes just two months after the departure of the Chief Operating Officer, Vivek Sinha.

Unacademy has been making headlines recently, not only due to its leadership shake-up but also because of multiple rounds of layoffs in the past 18 months, reflecting the global slowdown in the education technology sector, especially in the K12 segment.

In November 2022, the company terminated 350 employees, equivalent to approximately 10% of its workforce. This was followed by another round of layoffs in March, which led to a further reduction of about 12%, affecting approximately 380 employees. Just last week, Unacademy's software-as-a-service platform, Graphy, downsized its workforce by approximately 20-30%, impacting nearly 40-50 employees.

Unacademy, founded in 2015 by Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, and Hemesh Singh, has raised approximately $860 million in venture capital investments, with its latest valuation standing at $3.4 billion. The company specializes in providing courses for competitive examinations.

The education technology sector in India and worldwide has been grappling with challenges. With the reopening of traditional brick-and-mortar schools, the demand for online education has dwindled. Compounded by a funding crunch, rising interest rates, and economic uncertainties, the sector has seen a significant decline in investment.

In the first seven months of 2023, edtech investments in India plummeted by 48%, totalling $971 million compared to $1.87 billion in 2022, according to a report from data intelligence platform Tracxn. This also marks a 50% decrease compared to 2021. Furthermore, the number of funding rounds in 2023 witnessed a staggering drop of 77% compared to 2022 and an 82% decline from the same period in 2021.

The turbulence in the edtech sector is not unique to Unacademy. Byju's, one of the sector's giants, has been embroiled in allegations of misgovernance. Over the past two years, Byju's has witnessed the departure of several top-level executives, including its India CEO Mrinal Mohit, alongside the termination of thousands of employees. Three board members stepped down from the company, and its statutory auditor Deloitte Haskins resigned. To navigate these challenges, Byju's has appointed Arjun Mohan, former CEO of upGrad, to lead the company through a restructuring of its operations.