Mobile Premier League and FrontRow Fire 245 People

On Monday, May 30, gaming unicorn Mobile Premier League (MPL) and edtech startup FrontRow laid off over 245 employees. The news comes as several stakeholders in the Indian startup ecosystem are predicting a long funding winter in the near future.

FrontRow, a learning and community platform, has laid off 145 full-time employees, accounting for nearly one-third of the company's total workforce. It has already confirmed the reports and stated that they have sufficient funds to last for the next 24 months and intend to improve their core business offering. Inc42 was the first to report on the development.

FrontRow is not the only edtech company that has laid off employees this season; unicorns like Unacademy and Vedantu have laid off 1,549 employees this year. According to several experts, edtech will be one of the hardest hit industries.

According to a Moneycontrol report, the Mobile Premier League (MPL) is laying off 100 people, nearly 10% of its workforce due to a funding slowdown. It also decided to withdraw from the Indonesian market.

"The last few months have been insane. The philosophy of growth at all costs is now reversed. The market is now rewarding profitable growth over growth at all costs… It's imperative that we as a company respond to this change and respond fast. We have always said that the market is like a flowing river - you cannot fight it, you have to row downstream," MPL co-founders Sai Srinivas and Shubh Malhotra said in an email to employees.