Edtech firm Refocus suspends Philippine operations amid numerous complaints

Shadine Taufik and Lokesh Choudhary also contributed to this report.

Refocus, an edtech company based in the Philippines that teaches in-demand skills and helps people get jobs in the IT sector, has suspended operations in its home market while facing complaints about its sales and marketing tactics.

“We have halted the acquisition of new clients in the Philippines as we were unable to achieve viable unit economics,” Refocus CEO and founder Roman Kumar Vyas confirmed to Tech in Asia.

Refocus founders (from left) Alex Solo, Roman Kumar Vyas, and Igor Gurovich / Photo credit: Refocus

According to a termination letter sent to an employee in the Philippines dated July 1, the company said its sales dropped by “a factor of five” after its instalment provider BillEase had changed terms and conditions.

Refocus has about 374 employees in total, according to an internal document seen by Tech in Asia. The company said 102 of them are in the Philippines.

The startup, however, denied that it had laid off employees in the Philippines, stressing that the 102 employees were put on “floating status” since the start of July and their jobs could be reinstated if Refocus raises new capital.

The termination letter said Refocus can only pay affected staff 10% of their June salary, and the remaining amount will be paid in the coming months if funding comes in.

However, the company clarified that its employees have received their full salaries for June, while independent contractors got only 10% of their pay for the month.

Founded in 2019 by Vyas, Igor Gurovic and Alex Solo, Refocus has been operating in the Philippines since its launch in 2021. The company expanded to Indonesia in 2022.

The startup expects the fundraising process to be completed in two months. Vyas added that the company’s investors advised it to close its operations in the Philippines to reduce cash burn.

To offer staggered payments for its courses, Refocus had partnered with BillEase, a buy now, pay later company based in the Philippines.

Questionable marketing?

Refocus allegedly promoted its courses by using the name and image of a data analytics professional in its ads without his permission. According to the firm’s website, such industry experts train students after they enroll in courses.

In March, Dominic Ligot, founder of social impact AI firm CirroLytix and data security and privacy community Data Ethics PH, posted on LinkedIn that Refocus cited him as one of the mentors in its lineup of experts even though he never authorized or agreed to such a move.