TikTok owner ByteDance to shut edtech business in India, says report

China-based ByteDance, which is the parent company of short-video making app TikTok, is quitting its edtech business in India, the media reported on Monday.

After the ban on TikTok last year, ByteDance now runs education learning app Snapsolve and music streaming platform Resso in the country.

According to a report in TechCrunch citing sources, "ByteDance is shutting down its edtech business in India".

"Most of the employees, if not all, are being let go," one of the sources said, according to the report, adding that "the edtech division employed over three dozen people in India".

ByteDance was yet to react to the report.

SnapSolve says it is "the choice of over 1 million Indian students for doubt-solving and learning." The app helps students from class 6 to 12.

"SnapSolve is a doubt-solving app providing instant solutions to math, physics, chemistry, biology and science doubts and NCERT book questions. Similar to Vedantu, Byju's, Doubtnut, Quesgo, Snapsolve is a free learning app that insists on building your unique learning experience," reads its description on Google Play Store.

The Indian online edtech space is booming, with several new platforms receiving a great amount of funding in the remote learning era.

In 2020, the Indian government banned several apps developed by Chinese firms, including TikTok, over concerns that these apps were engaging in activities that threatened the national security and defence of the country.

Reports surfaced this year that ByteDance has started selling the AI technology of the short video-making app to other companies, including in India where the app is banned.

A Financial Times report had said that the company has kicked off a new division called BytePlus and is selling TikTok AI to companies like India-based social gaming platform GamesApp, US fashion app Goat, Singapore travel site WeGo, Indonesian shopping app Chilibeli, among others.

--IANS

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