Udaan lays off 150 employees days after securing $340 mn: Report

B2B e-commerce unicorn Udaan has reportedly fired 150 employees or about 10 per cent of its entire workforce days after it secured $340 million in capital. Udaan planned to strengthen its supply chain and boost vendor partnerships with the fresh funding.

According to a report in Moneycontrol, Udaan’s layoffs come because of a fundamental shift in the way it operates. As per the report that quoted sources, the number of laid-off employees could amount to a figure higher than 150 also.

Employees from all roles and across divisions have been impacted by Udaan’s restructuring.

Udaan has reportedly decided to decentralise operations. The report quoted a source who said that earlier the FMCG team operated at an all-India level but now the operations would be cluster-wise. Different teams for different clusters will look into all the categories.

“Over the last few years, we have made significant investments to build a solid and sustainable business. We believe in efficiency as a driver of profitable growth and are continuously making efforts to enhance efficiency, grow business sustainably and further improve customer experience," a company spokesperson said, further adding that the company has already made significant progress in its journey towards building a profitable business.

Udaan had sacked 10 per cent of its workforce last November too, after it raised $120 million in convertible notes. It has laid off 500 employees in 2022 in two rounds of lay-offs in June and November.

Meanwhile, the company is aiming for its initial public offering (IPO) in 2025. Udaan co-founder and CEO Vaibhav Gupta, said that their recent funding will enable their business plans and position them well to be public-market ready in the next 12-18 months.

Udaan was founded in 2016 by three IIT alumni, Amod Malviya, Sujeet Kumar and Vaibhav Gupta, all of whom had also worked at Flipkart.

Also read: E-commerce firm Udaan raises $340 million ahead of planned IPO in 2025: Report