Info Edge-backed Yojak lays off over 60 full-time employees

Since February, over 5,700 employees have been fired or forced to resign from the startup workforce.

Yojak, a business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform backed by Info Edge Ventures, has laid off more than 60 full-time employees over the last two months as the company scaled down its India business, according to a person in the know.

Yojak, which counts KAE Capital Management, and Shaadi.com’s founder Anupam Mittal among others as its backers, has also laid off around 75-80 contractual workers, the source said.

News agency Inc42 reported the development first, saying that Yojak has laid off 140 employees amid a funding crunch and that the Info Edge-backed company is looking to shut down its India operations.

Founded in 2019 by IIT Roorkee graduates Anuj Jain and Rachit Garg, Yojak offers a platform for small retail stores by connecting them with manufacturers. The B2B marketplace focuses on non-standard, and unbranded products. It entered developed and emerging international markets in 2020. The company’s key markets are the European Union, America and the Middle East.

The company had raised $3.8 million in August last year, led by Info Edge Ventures, along with participation from KAE Capital and angel investor Arun Venkatachallam.

Yojak joins the growing list of tech startups to lay off hundreds of employees amid a funding crunch. However, Yojak’s co-founder Rachit Garg, reportedly said that Yojak’s layoffs had nothing to do with a funding crunch and that the company is well-capitalised. Moneycontrol couldn’t reach Garg for a comment.

So far in 2022, according to data compiled by Moneycontrol, startups have laid off close to 5,900 employees. Funding to Indian startups has slowed down over the last two months with many private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) firms cutting cheque sizes, and investing in only select companies. PE/VC firms are going slow on investments amid high inflation, rising interest rates and the ongoing war in Europe, which have rattled global financial markets.

Investors are increasingly warning startups to keep a runway ready for the next 12-18 months as the funding winter may last long. So far, VC firms including Sequoia Capital, Orios Venture Partners, Beenext and Y Combinator have asked their portfolio companies to work on profitability by reducing extra costs.