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Agritech firm Waycool lays off more than 200 employees

EntrackrEntrackr · 11m ago
Agritech firm Waycool lays off more than 200 employees
Medial

Agriculture supply chain firm Waycool has laid off over 200 employees across departments as the company eyes profitability. This is the third round of layoffs at the Chennai-based company. “Each of WayCool’s businesses is executing their plans to get to profitability. As part of this, roles and structures are further simplified and automated. This will be a continual process,” said a Waycool spokesperson. The company did not comment on the number of employees being fired. The previous two firings took place in July 2023 and February this year in which more than 370 employees were given pink slips. Moneycontrol, which reported the development first, said that the layoffs have impacted employees across Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and its two subsidiaries: CensaNext and BrandNext. As per Entrackr sources, Waycool was negotiating a fresh round to the tune of more than $50 million which could have propelled its valuation in the range of $900 million to $1 billion. However, the talks did not go through. The firm was valued at $700 million in its last equity round. Waycool has raised around $160 million in funding to date from Lightrock, International Finance Corporation, FMO, and 57 Stars, among others. Earlier this week, Entrackr had highlighted Waycool’s struggle to scale and failing to raise a new round. While the company is yet to file its annual report for FY24, it registered 62% growth in its operating revenue to Rs 1,251 crore in FY23 from Rs 772 crore in FY22. The firm continued to bleed as its losses surged by 89% to Rs 685 crore in FY23. Founded by Karthik Jayaraman and Sanjay Dasari, Waycool buys fresh produce, including dairy products, from farmers and sells them to retailers and restaurants. It also runs private label brands and handles distribution for FMCG companies. This is the second major layoffs in the agritech space after ReshaMandi which sacked almost 80% of its workforce. Agritech was one of least funded segments during the first half of 2024. As per data compiled by TheKredible, agritech startups raised only $94 million across 22 deals, accounting for only 1.34% of the overall fundraise during H1 2024.

Exclusive: ReshaMandi faces complete layoffs, website shutdown, and auditor red flag

EntrackrEntrackr · 11m ago
Exclusive: ReshaMandi faces complete layoffs, website shutdown, and auditor red flag
Medial

The road for ReshaMandi appears to have come to an end as the firm has laid off its entire workforce, sources close to the firm told Entrackr. Significantly, the Creation Investments-backed firm’s website has been down for the past week, coinciding with the resignation of its auditor. “It’s all over for ReshaMandi,” said one of the sources requesting anonymity. “The company is struggling to pay liabilities and bear operational costs including salaries for the past several months.” Team Entrackr has also been trying to access its website since Wednesday last week but it’s not working until the press time. ReshaMandi has been embroiled in corporate governance issues including revenue inflation and fake invoices among others. A few alarming issues were also highlighted by its auditor Walker Chandiok & Co LLP which also resigned last month, the regulatory filing accessed from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) shows. The auditor stated that Saurabh Kumar Agarwal, the CTO, and founder, acknowledged the firm’s financial struggles, including downsizing operations, reducing staff, and the inability to support the audit firm’s efforts to complete the financial statements for FY23. Filings reveal that ReshaMandi owes Rs 14.16 lakh to the auditing firm for services offered. Meanwhile, the Bengaluru-based company also appointed a new auditor Suresh Kapoor & Associates in late July. ReshaMandi also saw back to back resignations of its chief financial officers (CFO). In April 2023, the firm appointed former KPMG CFO Samadrita Chakravarty as its group CFO who took over Ritesh Kumar. Kumar served as CFO between March 2022 to January 2023. As per an Inc42 report, Chakravarty also quit the firm in October last year. Commenting on Entrackr’s queries, a ReshaMandi spokesperson said, “ReshaMandi is facing some financial difficulties and has streamlined its staff, operations and processes to focus on collecting its pending receivables from the market. We continue to believe in coming out of this situation strong and be able to get back on track soon.” The company’s co-founder Mayank Tiwari chose not to address the specific question about the layoffs. ReshaMandi has raised more than $50 million including a $30 million Series A round in October 2021. In June 2022, it also initiated a new funding round and raised a $6.2 million debt in November 2022. The firm’s investors include Creation Investments, Omnivore, 9 Unicorns, Venture Catalysts, Northern Arc, Innoven Capital, and Stride Ventures. As per media reports, it was reportedly in talks to raise $5 million at much lower valuation to clear the long pending salaries of employees. However, the deal did not materialize. For a firm that claimed to be on course for Rs 1,900 crore in gross revenues in FY23, the fall is certainly a surprise, however skeptical many in the market might have been about its numbers. It does seem to be a case of flying too high for a better valuation, only to be burnt by the reality of its operating market and poor processes for Reshamandi. For any startup chasing growth only for the next round of funding and higher valuation, this is a perennial existential risk, when a potential investor (Temasek in this case) decides to move back or wait it out. Even though some might say that the whole drive for the next round and valuations is frequently driven by investors themselves. Temasek has clearly seen something that convinced it to take a break even if that might mean curtains for ReshaMandi.

Exclusive: Aakash lays off employees amid strategic shift

EntrackrEntrackr · 10m ago
Exclusive: Aakash lays off employees amid strategic shift
Medial

Byju’s-owned Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) has laid off 80 to 100 employees over the past couple of months, according to sources familiar with the matter. “Aakash has fired anywhere between 80-100 employees, including senior and middle-level executives, who were impacted by the layoffs,” said one source, requesting anonymity. Several long-time employees, some with over 4 years of service, were also laid off in the past few weeks. An AESL spokesperson stated, “As a high-performance organization, our performance reviews, talent development interventions, and consequence management follow a biannual cycle. We are introducing new business models as part of the Aakash 2.0 strategy, which includes creating new roles, consolidating existing ones, and aggressively hiring new talent. Unlike other players in the category, we expect to be net hirers by the end of this year.” The spokesperson did not disclose the specific number of employees affected by the layoffs. This marks the first instance of layoffs at Aakash since its acquisition by Byju’s in April 2021, when the Bengaluru-based edtech giant spent around $940 million to acquire the company. However, the Chaudhry family, founders of AESL, refused to swap their remaining stake, citing governance concerns. Earlier this year, both companies withdrew their merger petition, continuing to operate independently under the Think and Learn brand. In April, Aakash appointed Deepak Mehrotra as its managing director and chief executive officer. The company is expected to surpass Rs 2,300 crore in operating revenue in FY23, according to its valuation report, though it has yet to file audited financial statements for FY23 and FY24.

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