Fresh layoffs begin as beleaguered Dunzo looks to prune costs

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

layoffs impacting executives across divisions, people in the know told ET. The Reliance Retail-backed startup has been in the news over salary delays and for seeking fresh funding. The new round of job cuts was expected as it plans to cut costs significantly.

ET had first reported in its July 10 edition that more employees may have to go from Dunzo. This was confirmed when Dunzo cofounder and CTO Mukund Jha addressed a town hall on Wednesday evening. Jha did not share details but said the company would have to cut more roles.

Sources aware of the matter said several employees have now been told their roles would be redundant as the company needs to save capital by reducing corporate costs. ET had reported earlier that internally Dunzo is looking to reduce spends by 30-40% and that achieving such a reduction would not be possible with the same team strength. The final scale of the new layoffs is yet to be ascertained but it will be significant given the crisis the Bengaluru-based firm finds itself in.

Dunzo may formally announce the job cuts on Friday, per current plans. A spokesperson for Dunzo did not immediately respond to ET’s request for a comment. So far, Dunzo, which is also backed by Google, has fired close to 400 employees in two tranches with the April cuts being its biggest.

Meanwhile, sources added that Dunzo founder and chief executive Kabeer Biswas has been holding talks with all existing investors for a new cash infusion. Since the cost-cutting measures began, the company’s head of product Akansha Kumari has resigned as well, ET reported. “For those team members who were expecting the balance pay-outs of their June salary during this week, we regret to inform you that this has been delayed.