Bad news for employees of this company as Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platforms takes big step

Jio Platforms Ltd (JPL), a digital arm of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), is merging the edtech company Embibe into its operations. While the merger might look like a step forward for the business, it has also led to concerns, especially for employees. According to a report by Mint, the integration process has resulted in the layoff of around 300 people in recent months.

Embibe was founded in 2012 by Aditi Avasthi as an education technology platform focused on K-12 students (Kindergarten to Class 12). Over the years, the company received funding from well-known venture capital firms like Kalaari Capital and Lightbox. In 2018, Reliance Industries acquired a 73% stake in Embibe and promised an investment of $180 million, signaling a strong interest in expanding its presence in the edtech space.

In a recent post on LinkedIn, Avasthi shared her thoughts on the development. She said, “After 13 years since founding Embibe, and six years of building the right foundation to execute a bold, Jio-scale vision, I’m proud to share that we’ve officially graduated.” She confirmed that Embibe is now merging with its parent company, Reliance Jio, and praised her team for their efforts in reaching this milestone.

However, the journey hasn’t been smooth. At one point, Embibe employed nearly 2,000 people. But as demand for online learning fell after the COVID-19 lockdowns ended and schools resumed offline classes, the edtech industry saw a slowdown. Embibe was no exception. The company gradually reduced its workforce, and more recently, about 300 to 350 employees were affected by layoffs.

Currently, Embibe has about 380 employees working from its offices in Bangalore and Ahmedabad. Some of them will be moved to JPL’s team, but many have been let go with severance packages.

Following Reliance’s acquisition in 2018, earlier investors like Lightbox exited the company. Reports say Lightbox earned a threefold return and a 35% internal rate of return (IRR) from the deal.

The Embibe story highlights both the potential and the challenges of India’s edtech sector, especially in a post-pandemic world.