upGrad’s INSOFE Leaves 700 Students Fuming As It Abruptly Shuts AI & ML Course

Around 250 fresh recruits of the upGrad-owned data science training platform International School of Engineering (INSOFE) reportedly staged a protest in Hyderabad on Tuesday (April 18) after the startup allegedly announced it was closing its operations in the city.

The move has impacted around 700 recruits INSOFE was supposed to hire. The Times of India reported that many protestors alleged that the edtech had lured them with science and AI courses and assured them employment at the end of the courses.

The local police added that the edtech platform had taken private bank loans in the name of the employees. The startup reportedly borrowed INR 4 Lakh from the bank against 650 trainees who chose the PG diploma course in data science and collected INR 10 Lakh in the name of 50 trainees who chose the master’s programme.

In a statement given to Inc42 by Dr Dakshinamurthy Kolluru, cofounder and CEO of INSOFE and Sridhar Pappu, president of UGDX, said that the trainees had either self-financed or taken loans from the platform’s NBFC partners, denying the allegations that it was shutting down operations in Hyderabad.

“We would like to clarify that we are not shutting down our offices or operations in Hyderabad. We remain committed to our presence in the city and continue to invest in our people and projects. However, we have discontinued one of our programs in AI and ML due to the global economic meltdown,” said the two executives at INSOFE in a written statement.

Pappu and Dr Kolluru further added that the startup will take care of their loans in the next 15 days and the trainees will receive the NOC from banks within 45 days. The executives stated that INSOFE has already cleared loans for 200 people.

“We have set up dedicated Zoom links, phone numbers, and email to address their queries and provide them with the necessary support. We are committed to continuing our operations in the city. Our company values its learners, employees, and community, and we are doing our earnest best to support them through this challenging time,” the statement from Dr Kolluru and Pappu added.

Incidentally, none of the protesters decided to press charges against INSOFE. A police officer on the spot told the publication that the protestors were trying to reach an agreement with the company to compensate them for their losses.

The data science training institute was picked up in a $33 Mn share-swap deal by upGrad in May 2022. At the time of the deal, upGrad said in a statement that INSOFE’s revenue would cross $13 Mn (INR 100 Cr) in 2022 and it was profitable.

INSOFE was founded in 2011 by Sreerama K. Murthy and Dakshinamurthy Kolluru. It has a presence in the US, UK, France, Canada and India. The platform offers master’s and doctoral programs in data science, AI and machine learning in partnership with India and US-based universities.

Before being acquired by upGrad in 2022, the edtech startup had raised $2.6 Mn in a seed round from Kaizenvest in 2017.