Blume-Backed Interview Kickstart Lays Off Nearly 50 Employees Amid AI Automation Push

Blume Ventures-backed upskilling startup Interview Kickstart undertook a restructuring exercise last week amid rising automation due to AI. While sources told Inc42 that around 80-100 employees were impacted due to the restructuring, Interview Kickstart cofounder Soham Mehta said in a written response that less than 50 employees were impacted. 

The startup’s management informed about the restructuring exercise during a town hall meeting last Friday (May 29), the sources said.

“We were not prepared for this. Though the company was reducing employees over the past four months, nobody expected that around 80 folks would be let go,” one of the sources said. 

The restructuring exercise impacted employees across teams, with operations and support functions being the most affected. 

The primary reason behind the restructuring was the increase in AI automation, the sources said, adding that the startup’s enrollments are down 20-25% in 2026 from the previous year. However, cofounder Mehta rejected claims of a decline in enrollment. 

“Our AI business grew 90% last year. Until this March, we already had 26% YoY growth,” Mehta said.

Founded in 2014 by Mehta and Ryan Valles, Interview Kickstarts is an upskilling platform that provides tailored coaching to working professionals in the tech sector to improve employability. 

The sources said that the startup is now shifting its focus towards the B2B segment. Responding to Inc42’s question on this, Mehta said, “We continue to focus on our AI B2C learning businesses in the US as well as in India. We also focus on our new, fast-growing B2B business, where we offer extensive AI Acceleration to some of the largest enterprises in the world; this takes the form of AI training as well as building and shipping AI products for our enterprise clients.” 

The cofounder added that the startup has launched a new brand for providing B2B services.

Notably, Interview Kickstart also launched ‘Dexity’ brand in April this year for its B2C AI courses. 

The fresh restructuring comes almost two years after Interview Kickstart raised $10 Mn in its maiden funding round from Blume Ventures.

The development also comes amid a wave of restructuring across the tech industry as companies increasingly adopt AI. As automation improves efficiency, many firms are using it to streamline operations and reduce overhead costs. 

For instance, enterprise tech startup SuperOps laid off around 60 employees in April as part of a restructuring exercise aimed at improving efficiency and accelerating its transition into an AI-first organisation. 

The post Blume-Backed Interview Kickstart Lays Off Nearly 50 Employees Amid AI Automation Push appeared first on Inc42 Media.