SoftBank-backed e-learning platform Unacademy’s partner and chief marketing officer Karan Shroff has quit. In September 2021, he was promoted as partner at the company.
In a post on LinkedIn, Shroff says “I will be hanging my boots at Unacademy. Over 3 years of memories, tons of awards , A great team that taught me a lot and a journey that I will always cherish. I would like to thank everyone that helped in this chapter of life and I’m extremely grateful to everyone in the industry for their support in helping make Unacademy the brand it is today.”
An official statement on his successor is still awaited from the company.
Shroff is the first partner named by Unacademy in recognition of his contribution in helping build Unacademy into a known brand. Under his leadership, Bengaluru-based edutech firm was roped in the as official partner for the Indian Premier League for three seasons, the BCCI announced on August 29, 2020.
He held the position of chief marketing officer since September 2020. In this role, he was responsible for all marketing efforts including performance marketing, digital marketing, creative marketing, brand management, ATL campaigns, brand partnerships, media buying, consumer insights, and overall brand positioning. Shroff joined Unacademy in 2019 as vice president, marketing.
Prior to Unacademy, he led brand marketing at Xiaomi India. He has won multiple accolades and has regularly been featured as a Top Marketer, including being named CMO of the Year by World Asia Retail Congress in 2021.
Unacademy has been making strategic budget cuts in various areas including its workforce. In April, Moneycontrol reported that the company has laid off 10 percent of its workforce.
Also read: Unacademy lays off about 10% of its workforce
In August, Unacademy suspended contracts of doubt-solving educators for 6 months in another cost-cutting move.
Also read: Unacademy suspends contracts of doubt-solving educators for 6 months in another cost-cutting move
SoftBank-backed firm’s job guarantee program vertical, Relevel, on which the edtech unicorn has been extremely bullish lately, has halved its team to 700 employees over the last two to three months amid a global slowdown in the job market.
Also read: Unacademy halves Relevel team to 700 as placements drop amid job market slowdown