Physicswallah lets go of 120 employees after performance review

Physicswallah lays off employees.

Edtech unicorn Physicwallah lets go of about 120 employees after a performance review, in what comes as the first instance of layoffs at the company that achieved a unicorn tag last year.

"At PW, we regularly assess performance through mid-term and end-term cycles. For the cycle ending in October, less than 0.8 percent of our workforce, ranging from 70 to 120 individuals with performance concerns—may be asked to transition…,” said Satish Khengre, CHRO, PW, in a statement.

Entrackr was the first to report the development saying that a cost-cutting exercise within the company triggered the layoffs.

Physicswallah follows a series of other Indian edtech companies including Byju’s, Unacademy, Vedantu, Cuemath, and Teachmint among others, which have let go over 10,000 employees over the last two years amid a prolonged funding winter.

The edtech unicorn led by Alakh Pandey, a star YouTube teacher, was founded in 2020 and had raised $100 million from WestBridge Capital and GSV Ventures at a valuation of $1.1 billion in June last year.

It reported a 10x growth in its operating revenue in FY22 (2021-22) to Rs 232.5 crore, clocking a profit of nearly Rs 100 crore, becoming the largest and only profitable edtech start-up in India.

In FY23, the company said it expects its revenue to top Rs 1,200 crore, with an earning before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin of 40-45 percent, Pandey had told Moneycontrol in an interview last year.

The move comes even as in January this year, the company said it plans to hire 2,500 employees in that quarter across different roles.

“...Our primary focus remains on fostering a dynamic, high-performing team. We plan to hire an additional 1,000 employees in the next six months, reinforcing our commitment to growth. We deeply value the dedication of our existing employees and recognize their integral role in shaping the future of education technology,” added Khengre.

Recently, the company has also forayed into undergraduate residential engineering programme as it bets big on the upskilling segment.