Yet another startup resorts to layoffs, salary delays while waiting for spring

livemint.com:

the funding winter for startups may thaw this year, several companies, not counting Byju's, are struggling to raise capital and have defaulted on payments to vendors and employees. Nanotechnology startup Log9 Materialsand health-tech startup Red.Health have recently struggled with payment of dues on the back of liquidity concerns amid funding constraints. Dental-tech startup Dezylaid off nearly 200 employees and hadn't paid severance to several of them.

A spokesperson for Arzooo, responding to a detailed questionnaire from Mint, conceded that the company faced a cash crunch but had since raised money to run its operations. “Due to the delay in planned fundraise, the company did have a phase where it dealt with a cash-tight situation, but with the recent infusions of capital from existing investors and upcoming investment, we are able to deal with it," the spokesperson said in an emailed reply without offering more details on the recent or upcoming investments. “We’re now excited about starting FY25 as we complete our vertical integration, with the (business-to-business) and consumer businesses coming together.

We aim to achieve profitability by the first half of the financial year," the spokesperson added. Earlier this year, Arzooo announced it had raised an undisclosed sum in an extended Series B funding round. Last year, the company said it had secured $70 million at a valuation of about $310 million in a Series B round that had been announced in June 2022.

Investors included SBI investment, 3 Lines and Trifecta. But even as the company announced the fundraise, it hadn’t paid its stakeholders or communicated the development to its employees and customers, according to several current and former employees. The $70