Edtech startup Udayy laid off 100-120 employees and closed their slowed business as schools are back in offline mode. Saumya Yadav, the co-founder of Udayy, said all staff, including teachers, received severance pay, and nearly all were placed elsewhere.

Founded in 2019 by Karan Varshney, Mahak Garg and Saumya Yadav, the Gurugram-based startup provides learning and education services to kindergarten through eighth grade, serving approximately 5,000 students each month. The startup was looking for a buyer for its core product, English-language learning courses, but it didn’t materialise.

In February, Udayy raised about $10 million from Norwest Venture Partners based in the US. A year ago, it raised $2.5 million in seed funding. “We returned about $8-8.5 million to investors,” Yadav said. Many tech startups have either closed or restructured their operations.

In February, edtech startup Lido Learning announced shutting down for similar reasons. Last week, education technology platform FrontRow announced layoffs as the company entered restructuring mode to increase efficiency and extend its runway.

After years of high growth, edtech companies are now bracing for a slowdown in funding, with some, including Unacademy and Vedantu, already laying off staff to cut costs.

Last week, Unacademy founder Gaurav Munjal told employees in an email that “winter is coming” and that cost-cutting will be the company’s top priority as funding remains scarce for at least the next 12-18 months.

Several edtech companies are currently dabbling in a blended online and offline learning model. However, Udayy is unable to enter this segment. The startup was earning an average of Rs 1-2 crore per month.