Unacademy to cut down expenses, shut down Global Test Prep to focus on profitability

NEW DELHI: Despite having Rs 2,800 crore in its bank account, ed-tech firm Unacademy has decided to drastically cut down leisure expenses, and management salaries and close some businesses including Global Test Prep to focus on profitability. Founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal said in an employee note that Unacademy staff will not receive complimentary meals and snacks at the office.

There will be no business class travel for any employee including top founders and top management and dedicated drivers for top executives will also be removed. "Until now we never had frugality as one of our core values...but now the goal has changed. We have to do an IPO in the next two years. And we have turned cash flow positive. For that we must embrace frugality as a core value. Even though we have more than Rs 2,800 crore in the bank, we are not efficient at all. There are a lot of unnecessary expenses that we do. We must cut all these expenses," Munjal said.

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Unacademy declined to comment on the matter. He said that the cut may show that the company is in a bad state but it is not the case. "We are in a great state. This is the final frontier that we have to conquer. Profitability. And once we do, it will change the game for us. We are well capitalised but still we want our business to be profitable," Munjal said.

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The latest cost-cutting measures came three months after Unacademy retrenched 600 employees or about 10 percent of the total staff on account of non-performance and role redundancy to enhance efficiency and become profitable by the end of this year.