Edtech Blues: Camp K12 Fires 70% Employees, Refuses To Pay Salaries

Edtech startup Camp K12 has reportedly laid off 70% of its workforce without paying any dues to the impacted employees.

According to Camp K12’s LinkedIn account, it has 433 employees. Therefore, it could have fired as many as 300 employees. According to a report by The Morning Context, the coding edtech startup has not paid salaries to its employees since December 2022, while the layoffs took place in January 2023. 

While the laid off employees have not received their salaries or any severance, the remaining employees are allegedly not being allowed to resign.

Inc42 could not independently verify the developments and has reached out to Camp K12 for comments. The story will be updated upon receiving a response from the startup.

Founded in 2010 by Anshul Bhagi, as a small-time coding boot camp, Camp K12 was relaunched as an online coding edtech during the pandemic in 2020. It offers online courses in artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality, web development, Android app development and multiple basic coding courses for kids.

The company’s website shows that it has more than 200K students on its platform across 30 geographies, including India and the US. Camp K12 also claims to have partnerships with many prestigious schools in India. 

The edtech startup also has partnerships with Google, Adobe, IIM Bengaluru, NITI Aayog and the Atal Innovation Mission, as per its website.

The layoffs come amid the ongoing funding winter due to which startups around the world are struggling to extend their runways and raise funding before going profitable. This has resulted in multiple VC-funded startups shuttering operations, while tens of edtech startups have fired thousands of employees since the start of 2022.

Last year, eight VC-funded startups shut down in India, five of which were edtech platforms. According to Inc42’s ‘Indian Startup Layoff Tracker’, 17 edtech startups have fired 8,041 employees since 2022, making edtech the worst-hit sector in terms of layoffs.

Funding-wise, edtech startups raised $2.64 Bn in funding in 2022, down 44% compared to $4.73 Bn raised in 2021, as per Inc42 data. The K12 segment saw the biggest decline in funding in the past year, as Indian edtech K12 startups raised $171.5 Mn in 2022, down 55% compared to $266.15 Mn in 2021.