Ronnie Screwvala-backed startup Lido Learning shuts shop, workers seek help

Many Lido Learning's employees and vendors complained about not getting salaries for nearly two months and delayed payments on professional networking platforms and social media

Ronnie Screwvala-backed edtech startup Lido Learning has reportedly shut operations. This has led its employees to seek help via social media platforms.

Many employees and vendors complained about not getting salaries for nearly two months and delayed payments on professional networking platforms and social media.

"My 1st worst experience in the edtech industry. The company closed its business suddenly in the morning, 2 days before salary day without giving any notice to anyone. It is no other than LIDO," Rishabh Kumar, assistant marketing manager at Lido Learning, posted on LinkedIn, according to various media reports. "Everything was going well and suddenly on February 4, 2022, an official town hall was announced in the morning. The founder announced that the organisation is having no funds to run its business and they are shutting it down," Kumar posted.

Last year in September, Lido Learning raised $10 million, led by Ronnie Screwvala’s Unilazer Ventures. The small group, online tuitions company had seen rapid growth and was currently on track to reach a $100 million run rate (revenue) by end of the financial year. Lido Learning offered tuitions in Maths, Science, and English aligned with the CBSE and ICSE for students from KG to Grade 12.

The company had plans for an aggressive expansion in India as well as abroad. Lido Learning’s first-ever TV advertising campaign was supposed to go live during the IPL season, along with the launch of its free user app to give students access to free curriculum-aligned video content for life.

“We’re going to use this new round of capital to ensure that our classes are accessible to students from every corner of India as well as the world,” Sahil Sheth, Founder and CEO, Lido Learning, had said. “We’re going to double down on our efforts to connect students with India’s exceptionally well-qualified and dedicated teaching talent.”

Ronnie Screwvala, founder of Unilazer Ventures and top entrepreneur had said Lido has the first mover in the small-group, online tuitions space. He had said the company has differentiated itself from the start from all other players that primarily offer self-directed learning or large-group classes. “Lido’s strategy of immersive learning and rewarding positive learning outcomes has ensured that it is best-positioned to consolidate the $15 billion neighbourhood tuition market,”  Screwvala had said.

Lido Learning had also announced its entry into the US and Canada with its flagship coding program using the ‘Pair Learning’ methodology, with just two students per teacher to facilitate faster learning, deeper interactions, and real-time problem-solving. Plans were also in place to launch in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia in early 2022, in addition to its existing Middle-Eastern, American, and Canadian operations.

Lido Learning had raised about $27.3 million from marquee institutional investors such as Alibaba-backed BACE Ventures, Picus Capital, and 9 Unicorns along with leading entrepreneurs like Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Mukesh Bansal, Anupam Mittal and Ananth Narayanan.

Many entrepreneurs in the ecosystem have provided their support for the employees of Lido after the news about the company shutting down its operations.

“Lido learning team, we are hiring across teams. Please ping, if you have still not found a good role. There are opening across all edtech companies and you should have multiple options to choose from,” said Krishna Kumar, founder and CEO, Simplilearn, on LinkedIn. “We are living in a world, where great team members like you decide, which organisation you want to work for. Not the other way around.”

“Heard the sad news of Lido shutting its operations down. Building a company is one of the toughest things to do. And I would like to extend my support to the founders and team for getting so far,” said Vaibhav Sisinty, founder of GrowthSchool. “Also wanted to welcome employees of Lido to come apply for GrowthSchool.We have a ton of roles open.”