After Byju's, FrontRow Fires Around 75% Of Its Staff

Celebrity-led learning platform FrontRow has fired 75% of its 170-member staff as funding dries up.

"Roughly 125-130 employees were let go of. We have a 45-member team now," Ishaan Preet Singh, founder of FrontRow, said over a call to BQ Prime.

Singh explained that the layoffs are part of a "redo" of the organisation. "Our focus on non-academic skills will continue, only the approach will change. Our go-to-market strategy will change. We will be more product-led, more organic going ahead." 

Those fired were informed of the company's decision over the last couple of days, he said.

The firings highlight the funding winter that has hit the Indian startup ecosystem. Layoffs at FrontRow come right after India's largest edtech platform Byju's said it would cut 2,500 jobs in an attempt to break even by March. Edtech startups have been impacted heavily, with major players such as Unacademy, Byju's and Vedantu having laid off staff over the past year.

Over the past couple of months, it's "become clear that the business fundamentals were still not working despite our best efforts", Singh said in a separate statement to BQ Prime.

"Unfortunately, as we realized that a sales and marketing-led approach to this market didn't work with our current delivery model, we had to let go a large part of our team," the statement said.

The development was first reported by Entrackr.

The confirmation came after a person aware of the matter earlier told BQ Prime that 130 employees across domains such as engineering, product, sales, generalists, operations and customer support have been let go of.

FrontRow, which presents itself as "a learning and community platform focused on creative arts and sports", onboards celebrities in fields such as music and comedy and launches courses based on upskilling in hobbies and non-academic skills.

Founded in 2020, the startup has raised about $17.2 million (Rs 130 crore) in funding till date. The last round was in September 2021.

It had onboarded marquee angel investors such as Cred's Kunal Shah, Unacademy's Gaurav Munjal and ShareChat's Farid Ahsan, among others.