Unacademy’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Jagnoor Singh, is stepping down from his role, according to recent reports. This move is part of an ongoing internal reshuffle within the edtech unicorn led by Gaurav Munjal.
Singh joined Unacademy as the Chief Business Officer in 2022 and was promoted to COO in January 2023. Despite his resignation, Singh will remain with the company during a six-month transition period, serving out his notice.
Who Will Take Over?
After Singh’s departure, Unacademy’s co-founder Gaurav Munjal and newly promoted partner Sumit Jain will take direct charge of the company’s offline business operations. Sumit Jain, formerly the CEO of Graphy, a SaaS platform for creators and educators, was promoted to a partner role in August last year, a position equivalent to that of a late-stage co-founder.
Recent Resignations
Jagnoor Singh’s resignation follows the recent departure of co-founder Hemesh Singh from his role as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Hemesh Singh, who had been with the company for nearly a decade, announced his transition to an advisory role last month. Additionally, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Subramanian Ramachandran also left the company around the same time Singh was promoted to COO.
Focus on Profitability
In December last year, co-founder Gaurav Munjal informed employees about the company’s improved financial health. This was achieved through stringent cost-cutting measures, including layoffs and reduced executive benefits. The edtech major’s efforts to streamline operations and enhance business efficiency have been ongoing. For the financial year 2022-23, Unacademy managed to cut its losses to Rs 1,678 crore from Rs 2,847 crore in the previous year, while its revenue stood at Rs 907 crore. Munjal claimed that these measures have extended the company’s financial runway to over four years.
Recent Layoffs at Unacademy
The news of Singh’s resignation comes after Unacademy laid off approximately 250 employees as part of a restructuring exercise aimed at streamlining operations and enhancing business efficiency. The layoffs included 150 employees from the sales team who failed to meet sales targets, while the remaining 100 layoffs were part of a broader organizational restructuring and performance-based evaluations.
“As part of our ongoing efforts to streamline operations and enhance business efficiency, we have recently undergone a restructuring exercise. This was necessary keeping in mind the company’s goals and vision for the year, as we focus all our efforts on sustainable growth and profitability. Consequently, some roles have been impacted. While this transition won’t be easy, we will be supporting all impacted individuals during this transition,” Unacademy stated.
Unacademy’s Growth and Reach
Founded in 2015 by Gaurav Munjal, Hemesh Singh, and Roman Saini, Unacademy claims to have a network of over 91,000 registered educators and serves more than 99 million learners. The platform provides education in over 14 Indian languages across 10,000 cities.
Unacademy’s continued efforts to restructure and enhance efficiency are aimed at sustaining its growth and profitability in the competitive edtech market.
