Layoff: Accel-backed Virgio corrects 'hiring mistakes' by downsizing workforce by 30%

Amar Nagaram, co-founder and CEO of Virgio, which has raised money from Prosus, Accel, Alpha Wave and others.

Virgio, the fashion company started by former Myntra CEO Amar Nagaram, has let go of 20 employees – or 33% of its workforce – in a restructuring move, people aware of the developments told Moneycontrol. Senior staffers were the most impacted by Virgio's cost cutting exercise. The decision to downsize its team comes just weeks after Moneycontrol reported that Virgio has pivoted from a fast-fashion company to a sustainable clothing brand.

“Virgio realised that it had made some hiring mistakes and wanted to correct it as early as it could. The ones being let go were not bad talent, just that they weren’t good enough for the phase Virgio is in currently,” one of the persons cited above said.

Virgio did not reply to Moneycontrol’s queries.

Top deck changes

Along with the layoffs, Virgio has also rejigged its top deck and is hiring more people to fill vacant positions.

Prachi Sharma, who has previously worked at brands such as Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, has replaced Rajesh Narkar to lead sourcing and design for Virgio.

Hansa Nigam, earlier the marketing lead for OnePlus Nord in India, has replaced Sachin Tandon and now heads marketing for Virgio. Similarly, Suyash Motarwar, who had stints with Flipkart and PharmEasy in the past, has replaced Nishant Khurana to lead Virgio’s tech. Ashish Ranka, who previously worked with Flipkart and CoinSwitch, has been roped in to replace Neelesh Soni as head of product.

All four departing executives – Narkar, Tandon, Khurana, and Soni – had previously worked at Myntra under Nagaram when he was CEO of the Walmart-owned company.

“Virgio aims to have a team which is much younger and likes to hustle rather than having a board room-like set up,” a person aware of the company’s plans told Moneycontrol.

Virgio raised $37 million from Accel, Prosus, Alpha Wave and others in December last year and has cash runway of three years, per Nagaram.

Along with the list of institutional investors, Virgio is also backed by angel investors including Cult.fit co-founder Mukesh Bansal, Cred founder Kunal Shah, Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Ola co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal, Meesho co-founder Vidit Aatrey, angel investor Saif Ali Khan, Swiggy co-founder Sriharsha Majety, among others.