BEIJING, November 22 (TMTPOST) — ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has shut down its edtech business in India, according to a news report from TechCrunch.
The decision was made after weeks of internal discussion at ByteDance. The company also discussed the possibilities of moving its team from India to work with the edtech team in Europe.
It is reported that most of the employees, if not all, will be let go. ByteDance’s edtech business employed over 30 people in India. The company published several recruitment notices just last month.
ByteDance has not responded to requests for comment on the report so far.
Source: Visual China
In 2020, the Indian government banned a number of apps developed and owned by Chinese companies, including ByteDance’s main product TikTok, for national security concerns. However, ByteDance’s learning app SnapSolve and music streaming app Resso have remained operational in the country. ByteDance laid off most of its employees in India last year after TikTok was banned. But the company continues to hire personnel for its music streaming and education business.
TikTok is trying to keep a low profile in these two vertical sectors and its employees are instructed to not openly talk about these businesses in public.
SnapSolve, which directly competes with local learning app Doubtnut, is designed to help students from 6th to 12th grade solve mathematical problems. Users can find instant solutions to questions relatng to subjects like math, chemistry and biology via uploading pictures.
India’s online edtech market is estimated to generate US$5 billion in revenue by 2025, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. The country’s edtech industry had also had tremendous growth due to the Covid-19 pandemic that broke out in 2020. The pandemic forced schools and educational institutions to go online, which accelerated the growth of the online learning market. The Indian government responded by highlighting its support for online and digital education in the 2020 National Education Policy.
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