The slump of funding of start-up companies in India has been dragging on for months now and has now creeped into the financial tech industry in the country with the latest victims being Rupeek as they have been forced to let go around 190 of the employees.
The company said in a statement that due to a lack of funds, the company has had no other option but to let to go of around 15% of their total work force. The company said that their work force prior to the purge stood at around 1200, and they laid off more than 180 of them. They went on to say that due to the slump in funding across the Indian market and the slow growth of the Indian economy and many other businesses in various industries, the company’s top brass has been forced to re evaluate and adjust their strategies to fit the current environment. They have been forced to lower their costs and cash outflow due to this to stay afloat and they have had no other option but to trim down the company’s work force which they wish they did not have to do.
Rupeek is one of the nation’s top assets backed digital finance lending platforms. They are one of the first gold finance firms in the country. They plan to make the use of credit accessible to people in India irrespective of their level of income by providing gold loans, small loans which are generally risk free or have less risk of default. The financial tech company was established 7 years ago back in 2015 and its head office is situated in Bangalore although they have offices in other cities in India such as Chennai and Mumbai.
The company’s spokes people also said that they understand what it feels like to lose a job out of the blue and they know how it can impact them which is why they are being assisted currently and will help them transition and find a new job.
Sumit Maniar, the chief executive officer of the company penned down an email to the laid off employees stating the reason for the decision they took which was a change in strategy due to the current climate and even said that it is one of the hardest choices he has ever had to make. He also thanked them for helping the business grow exponentially over the past year and the company is set to continue those trends.
He also said that this restructuring was needed as they do not know when the fin tech industry would go back to how it was in the past.
