Edtech unicorn Unacademy has initiated a series of cost cutting measures at the company to ensure profitability ahead of potential IPO in two years’ time.
Among the cost restructuring steps are pay cuts for founders and management, travel restrictions on employees and stopping complimentary meals and snacks at offices, founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal has informed his employees.
Employees, including top management, will not be allowed business class travel facility and anyone who wants an upgrade can pay from their own pocket, Munjal said in an internal note to employees.
Certain privileges such as dedicated drivers for CXOs will also be removed. Founders have already taken a salary cut and management will also take a salary cut, he added.
“We will be shutting down certain businesses that have failed to find PMF (product market fit) like Global Test Prep,” Munjal said.
“Until now we have never had frugality as one of our core values. Honestly, since we were focused on growth and the fact that we had raised millions of dollars of capital it (frugality) wasn’t a priority,” he said.
“But now the goal has changed. We have to do an IPO (initial public offering) in the next two years. And we have to turn cashflow positive. For that we must embrace frugality as a core value,” Munjal added.
The CEO meanwhile claimed that Unacademy has more than Rs 2,800 crore in the bank.
On cost cutting measures, he said that “sometimes it’s (travel is) needed, sometimes it’s not. There are a lot of unnecessary expenses that we do. We must cut all these expenses. We have a strong core business. We must turn profitable asap.”
