upGrad to hire 3,000 in 3 months defying layoff trend amidst funding winter
1 min read 01 Jun 2022, 05:35 PM ISTMany education technology startups – Unacademy, Frontrow, and Vedantu – are among others that have opted to lay-off amidst problems arising on the business front and drying up funding in what is being termed as 'funding winter'
PremiumSouth Asia's largest online higher edtech company upGrad on Wednesday announced its plan to hire around 3,000 people in the next three months - defying the layoffs trend in the sector amidst a capital crunch. upGrad is also close to secure fresh funding.
upGrad's chairperson and co-founder Ronnie Screwvala told PTI that the company will increase its workforce to around 6,500-7,000 by August this year.
At present, upGrad employs 4,000 people.
The five-year-old company is looking for another round of fundraising, as Screwvala said that it is a "work in progress" and will be done "very soon". The co-founders currently hold a 60% stake in upGrad.
Further, Screwvala added that there are a lot of opportunities that the education sector still offers in a country like India where re-skilling is very important.
However, Screwvala blamed the present set of problems on "halos" created by select private equity funds that backed young entrepreneurs who went on to become poster boys.
Also, he said that a slew of decisions may have gone wrong, including the pressures to keep increasing enterprise valuations after every round of funding without concentrating on the core business, venturing into verticals under pressure from financial backers, etc. which led to a select few companies meeting the current fate.
Many education technology startups like Unacademy, Frontrow, and Vedantu among others have opted to lay-offs amidst problems arising on the business front and drying up funding in what is being termed as "funding winter".
Screwvala said that he is saddened that the "hubris and noise" of select few entrepreneurs are "spooking" the normal entrepreneur on the verge of starting up and chances are that some may not take the plunge because of the current set of happenings.
Further, the co-founder highlighted that the entrepreneur is always focused on the return on capital deployed without being too conservative on the business expansion front.
Last year, upGrad has reportedly crossed the $1 billion valuation mark in a funding round.
upGrad targets to record a turnover of $500 million in the fiscal FY23 compared to $250-280 million in FY22.
