Cuemath Founder Returns as CEO, Lays Off 100 Employees: Understanding the Edtech Company's Pain

Highlights

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• Cuemath's Founder Manan Khurma takes back the CEO position; Vivek Sunder moves to advisory capacity.

• Cuemath lays off 100 employees in response to challenges in the edtech industry.

• Cuemath's layoffs aim to boost student and teacher retention rates and enhance consumer experience.

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In a major shake-up at the online math learning platform Cuemath, the founder and chairman Manan Khurma has announced that he will reassume the role of CEO, while the current CEO Vivek Sunder will transition to an advisory capacity. The company has also laid off about 100 employees across various functions, citing challenges in the edtech ecosystem.

What led to the layoffs and leadership change?

According to Khurma, who shared the news on LinkedIn on May 8, 2023, the decision was taken to improve the business metrics of Cuemath, especially the retention rates of students and teachers. He said that the global edtech landscape has worsened due to the pandemic and the competition, and that Cuemath needs to focus on building a great learning and consumer experience.

He also thanked Sunder, who joined Cuemath in September 2021 from Swiggy, for his contributions to scaling up the business and driving growth. He said that Sunder will continue to work with him and the team on areas like acquisition funnels and go-to-market strategies.

A spokesperson for Cuemath told Moneycontrol that the layoffs have impacted 100 out of about 800 roles, and that the company is committed to supporting the affected employees with severance packages and outplacement assistance.

How is Cuemath performing in the edtech space?

Cuemath is a Sequoia Capital India-backed startup that offers online math classes for students from kindergarten to 12th grade. It claims to have over 200,000 students across 20 countries, and over 10,000 teachers on its platform.

The company last raised $57 million in a funding round led by US-based Alpha Wave Global in December 2020, at a valuation of $407 million. It also counts CapitalG, Manta Ray Ventures, and Falcon Edge Capital among its investors.

Cuemath competes with other edtech players like Byju's, Vedantu, Unacademy, and Khan Academy in the online math learning segment. The edtech sector has seen a surge in demand and funding due to the shift to online education amid the pandemic. However, it has also faced challenges such as high customer acquisition costs, low retention rates, regulatory uncertainties, and increased competition.

Cuemath's decision to lay off employees and make a leadership change reflects the challenges faced by edtech startups in the highly competitive online learning space. By focusing on improving its student and teacher retention rates and building a better consumer experience, Cuemath hopes to strengthen its position in the market. It remains to be seen how the leadership change and layoffs will impact the company's growth and funding in the future, but it is clear that Cuemath, like many other edtech companies, will need to constantly adapt to changing customer needs and market trends to succeed.