VerSe Innovation, the parent company of content aggregator platform Dailyhunt and short-video app Josh, is giving up its office space in Bengaluru’s Bellandur area in a move to cut costs and optimise operations, sources told Moneycontrol.
The move is expected to save the company Rs 60 lakh per month, which translates to around Rs 7.2 crore per year.
The company’s current office, which was designed to accommodate 700 employees, has a monthly rent of Rs 1.2-1.3 crore and the new office space, in the same vicinity, will have a monthly rent of Rs 60-70 lakh, effectively halving rental costs for the company that runs DailyHunt and Josh, a back-of-the-envelope calculation showed.
DailyHunt’s move to a new, smaller office is understandable as it has considerably trimmed headcount, across at least three rounds of layoffs. The company has fired 550-600 staffers across three rounds of layoffs since November 2022, according to several media reports.
A spokesperson for VerSe Innovation confirmed the developments.
"We are relocating from our current office space to an adjacent one as part of our ongoing effort to optimize costs," a VerSe Innovation spokesperson said in response to Moneycontrol’s queries.
DailyHunt will vacate the office space by the end of the month, one of the persons cited above said.
The move comes at a time when DailyHunt has been on a drive to optimise costs amid mounting losses.
According to VerSe’s updated financial report, its revenue from operations for FY24 stood at Rs 1,029 crore compared with Rs 1,104 crore in FY23. Meanwhile, its net loss stood at Rs 889 crore in FY24 versus Rs 1,909.7 crore in FY23.
To be sure, VerSe had previously reported its FY24 operating revenue at Rs 1,261 crore, and an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) loss of Rs 710 crore, but said the difference in financials was because of a change in accounting practices.
The company is yet to file its FY25 financials with the regulator.
While VerSe Innovation becomes the latest company to give up its office space and save rent, it is not the first Indian startup to do so.
In the past, companies like DealShare, Byju’s, Udaan, Dunzo, and others have given up their office space to bring down costs by a few crores, improve their financial health, and increase their cash runway.
VerSe Innovation last raised $805 million (Rs 6,800 crore) in a funding round led by the Canada Pension Plan and Investment Board and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board at a valuation of around $5 billion (Rs 40,000 crore) in April 2022. The company has, so far, raised over $2 billion (Rs 16,000 crore) across multiple rounds from Peak XV Partners and more, and was eyeing an initial public offering (IPO) this year.
It has, however, pushed out those plans and plans to steady the ship before aiming for a public market debut.
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