Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) division, Jio Platforms Ltd (JPL), which has its telecommunications and digital operations, will absorb Edtech’s Indianvidual Learning Limited or Embibe, resulting in the layoffs of workers in the past few months. Mint.
“Embibe will be part of Jio and will continue to serve as Edtech. Jio is currently in due diligence related to the merger,” said a senior industry executive.
Merge ideas
RIL acquired nearly 73% of Embibe shares in 2018 and will completely merge Edtech into JPL.
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Multiple queries and RILs sent to Ebmibe do not cause a response until the release time. Mint Email sent to Essibe founder Aditi Avasthi bounced. Mint also attempted to contact Avasthi through calls and messages that were not answered.
“I am proud of 13 years since building Embibe built Embibe and building the right foundation to execute the right foundation for a bold, Jio-level vision,” Avasthi wrote in a public post on Saturday’s professional web platform LinkedIn. “Embibe is combining its parents – India’s largest distribution platform, where one of the amazing teams transitioned from Ebmibe to the next chapter.”
Founded in 2012 by Avasthi, the company is a K-12-focused Edtech platform that raised funds from Angel Investors, followed by investments from early-stage venture investors such as Kalaari Capital and Lightbox.
Later in 2018, Reliance Jio promised to invest in Bangalore’s AI-driven education platform over the next three years to acquire a 72.69% stake from Ebmibe’s existing investors. When Reliance Industries Ltd acquired its stake in Embibe in 2017, Lightbox earned a triple return with an internal rate of return (IRR) of 35%, Mint Reported in January.
According to the second executive quoted above, the Embibe team grew to nearly 2,000 employees at its peak during the Jio acquisition, after the team’s peak towards creating a scalable classroom solution.
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As time goes by, the numbers begin to decrease, and over the past few rounds, about 300 to 350 employees have been released.
India’s Edtech industry faces two challenging years, marked by a decrease in investor confidence as the massive demand for online learning disappears, the loss of positive growth strategies, and the industry’s huge BYJU decline.
“At the end, Embibe had about 380 people between Bangalore and Ahmedabad. The company management knew (since last year) would merge (with Jio). Not all 380 people were fired, and some would be taken over by Jio,” said the second executive quoted above.
They added that employees who have let go can also get appropriate severance payments, while the remaining employees may absorb JPL.
