Mumbai: With the Bengaluru-based edtech startup Teachmint laying off 70 employees, in its second round of sacking in the past six months, the company has offered laptops to the affected individuals on a need-to-need basis, the Free Press Journal has learned.
The former employees, who might want to look for new jobs and work opportunities, would be able to use the laptops until they find a job after which the individuals will have to return the devices to Teachmint.
The laptop devices are an addition to the company’s support package for the employees, who were working in various departments across the startup.
More benefits to ex-employees
According to a Teachmint spokesperson, the employees have been offered three months of payroll support and six months of continued health insurance benefits. They have also been provided with outplacement support and vesting of ESOPS (employee stock option plan) if they are eligible for the same. The employees can also access qualified mental health counsellors, vetted by the company, for free.
“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,” the spokesperson told the FPJ.
‘Ex-employees satisfied with benefits’
The announcement regarding the layoffs was done during a town hall held by Mihir Gupta, co-founder and CEO of the Lightspeed-backed startup, on May 4, Thursday. The company’s primary motive for cutting jobs was due to its restructuring plans and not because of job performance, sources told the FPJ.
According to people familiar with the matter, the staffers had one on one conversations with the founders during the entire day, with individuals continuing with the company having the opportunity to work from home on the day of the announcement.
“Many of us were aware of the layoffs hitting soon. Some employees also asked questions surrounding the same during previous town halls, and the executives didn’t reject the idea of this happening then too,” a source told the FPJ while adding that the majority of the ex-employees were satisfied with the benefits.
More layoffs in light of revenue loss, restructuring plans
The latest development at Teachmint is similar to its decision back in December 2022, when the company laid off 45 employees. Moreover, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Anshuman Kumar resigned from Teachmint after a three-year stint on April 7, 2023, to pursue his new venture Duolop, a modern relationship management app.
Teachmint, a content management platform, which was founded in 2020 by Gupta, Kumar, Payoj Jain, and Divyansh Barodia, caters to education providers from K-12 schools to after-school tutoring, universities, creators, and even edtechs.
With edtech startups across India facing the brunt of post-pandemic layoffs, and revenue concerns, Teachmint’s fate was no different.
According to Inc42, a startup media and information platform, Teachmint’s net loss surged to INR 131.7 Cr in FY22 from INR 5.5 Cr in FY21, with its revenue from operations standing at INR 77.45 Lakhs in FY22.
Besides Lightspeed, the startup raised $118 million to date from global venture capital firms including Rocketship.VC, Vulcan, Better Capital, with its last valuation standing at $500 million.
As per an analysis conducted by EdTechReview, on January 20, 2023, a total of 16 edtech startups had laid off 8,000 employees, while another five of them down their operations in 2022.
