Hubilo, an online and offline event management platform, joins the growing list of startups and has now laid off 35% of its workforce, or 115 employees across all departments. People aware of the development, not small businesses (SMBs) or individual organizers, told his FE.
The Lightspeed-backed company underwent a cost-cutting exercise last July after already laying off 12%, or about 30 staff, after demand for physical events began to rise. believes a focus on the mid-market segment will increase ticket sizes, as opposed to lower purchasing power for small businesses and individuals.
A member of the management team confirmed the development to FE, stating: In the new structure, we were asked to move out Wednesday. “
Affected employees will not comply with the notice period and will instead be given 1.5 times their severance pay, given the opportunity to be relocated and provided other benefits, the person added.
The company overhired and overestimated its growth potential in the Covid years of 2020 and 2021, but demand continues to decline through 2022, forcing Hubilo to become a leaner startup. it was done.
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Hubilo did not respond to FE’s inquiries for details about the layoffs.
FE also learned that the San Francisco- and Bangalore-based firm is understood to have increased its runway from 54 months ago to 72 months after laying off 115 employees. The startup will wait and see how the new strategy performs over the next few months, and may even hire people, especially in sales and marketing, based on the results. But instead, it was looking to acquire a smaller player that would help the company reach its goals faster, said one of the sources mentioned above.
Hubilo has raised over $150 million to date from other investors including Alkeon Capital Management.
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This has led Indian startups to lay off nearly 2,500 employees in January alone. This includes big companies like ShareChat and Swiggy, which is cutting nearly 600 of his jobs to rival Moj’s parent company, Mohalla Tech. Google-backed Dunzo, SoftBank-funded Unacademy’s Relevel, Lead and others are also laying off employees, albeit at a slower pace, as access to capital becomes more difficult and new-age companies function. This is because it tries to maintain by generating profits to continue. Rather than relying absolutely on venture capital and growth.
