Bengaluru, October 9: BeepKart, an Indian second-hand two-wheeler marketplace, fired 130 employees in the past five months to reduce the costs and half the store count. The Bengaluru-based company had been reducing its workforce for months due to funding crunch and other setbacks. BeepKart layoffs affected around 40% of the total workforce.
According to a report by Inc42, BeepKart layoffs were introduced in three rounds over a period of five months. The recent layoffs in September 2024 affected around 60 to 70 employees working in offices and stores available in Bengaluru and Chennai. All the workforce reduction rounds followed the same pattern. PubMatic Layoffs: US-Based Adtech Company Lays Off Employees To Focus on Growth Areas, Plans To Increase Workforce by 15% This Year.
The report said the BeepKart layoff round was also announced during a town hall meeting, just like the previous two. The founders addressed the employees in the meeting, and subsequently, the respective managers informed them about the layoffs.
The report mentioned one source who said that BeepKart told that it was struggling and did not have much cash to bear the cost. Due to this reason, the Bengaluru-based company decided to introduce another round of job cuts affecting more employees.
Depending on the notice periods, BeepKart offered the affected employees severance pay. Beyond layoffs, the startup closed 11 stores in Bengaluru and Chennai to cope with the costs. Since the establishment in 2021 by Hemir Doshi and Abhishek Saraf, the company raised a total of USD 18 million.
BeepKart is backed by the venture capitalists like Vertex Ventures, Stellaris Venture Partners, Chiratae Ventures and Innovan Capital, said the report. The used two-wheeler marketplace currently offers services limited to Bengaluru and Chennai locations. The Indian startup has been struggling with rising costs amid hope of turning its EBITDA positive. Tech Hiring Surge: Developers Back in Demand As IT Firms Rebound From Layoffs, Expected To Increase 8.5% in FY25.
The company started hiring aggressively last year to expand its operations by opening new stores for rapid growth. However, the stores opened by BeepKart did not add new customers and instead started cutting each other’s market shares due to proximity. The startup’s policy of cutting costs resulted in poor vehicle quality and customer complaints.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 09, 2024 11:43 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website todaynews24.top).
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