Ola’s AI startup Krutrim lays off over 100 employees in second round of job cuts, report claims

Krutrim, the AI startup backed by Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal, has reportedly laid off over 100 employees in its second round of job cuts. According to an Economic Times report, the layoffs are part of the company’s efforts to streamline operations and build leaner teams.

The latest round has hit the linguistics team the hardest, ironically, the same team that was only recently hired. Krutrim had about 600 people in this department alone, and now a significant chunk has been let go. This comes just weeks after the company’s first round of layoffs in June, which impacted over a dozen roles.

Krutrim made headlines earlier this year when it raised around $75 million and entered the unicorn club in January 2024. Its investors include Z47 (earlier known as Matrix Partners), the Sarin Family, and others. While there were recent whispers about a new funding round, the company has officially denied any such talks.

The timing of these layoffs is also interesting, given that Krutrim just launched its second-generation AI assistant, Kruti. This new tool can understand and respond using text, voice, images, and even files, making it one of the more advanced AI models coming out of India.