Edtech unicorn Physicswallah (PW) has fired around 120 employees after a performance review. This is the first incident of layoffs in the company which acquired the unicorn tag last year. PW’s CHRO Satish Khengre said in a statement that the company regularly assesses performance through mid-term and end-term cycles, under which this decision has been taken. Entrackr was the first to give this information. The company has decided on layoffs to cut costs.
These companies have done layoffs earlier
Before this, companies like Byju’s, Unacademy, Vedantu, Cuemath, and Teachmint have also done layoffs. These companies have laid off more than 10,000 employees in the last two years due to funding problems. Now Physicswallah has also been included in this list.
Led by star YouTube teacher Alakh Pandey, the edtech unicorn was founded in 2020 and had raised $100 million from Westbridge Capital and GSV Ventures in June last year at a valuation of $1.1 billion.
The company’s operating revenue grew 10 times to Rs 232.5 crore in FY22. It generated a profit of around Rs 100 crore, making it the largest and only profitable edtech start-up in India. The move comes after the company in January this year said it planned to hire 2,500 employees across multiple roles in that quarter.
