Exclusive: Bolt.Earth Fires Employees In Another Restructuring Exercise, Shuts Two Business Verticals

Bengaluru-based electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure provider Bolt.Earth laid off employees from multiple teams earlier this week in a second restructuring exercise within four months, sources told Inc42.

The sources attributed the layoffs to a cash crunch owing to the startup’s failure to raise fresh funding and said the number of employees impacted by the latest restructuring exercise could be in the range of 70-100, or around 40%-60% of the startup’s workforce. 

Bolt.Earth confirmed the layoffs with Inc42 in a statement but said the claims of it firing 60% of its workforce are “highly exaggerated”.

“While we have made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce, the scale of these layoffs was significantly smaller and was a necessary adjustment within our strategic realignment,” the statement said, without disclosing the number of employees impacted.

The startup said that the decision to adjust the workforce was a result of a strategic pivot towards focussing more intensely on its core business – charging network. 

Founded by Jyotiranjan Harichandan and Mohit Yadav in 2017, Bolt.Earth offers electric vehicle charging solutions for businesses, individuals, real estate companies, fleet operators, and the government. It is pertinent to note that the startup had three broad product categories – Operating System (OS) for electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, and fleet management system. 

However, Inc42 sources said that the startup has shut the OS and the fleet management system verticals. 

Confirming this, Bolt.Earth said, “… we have decided to discontinue our OS System and fleet management system verticals. However, we remain dedicated to providing ongoing support to our existing OS and IoT customers, ensuring they continue to receive the quality service they expect from us.” 

The sources cited above said that the layoffs impacted multiple teams, including product, marketing, and technology. However, the design team was the worst hit as it was completely dissolved. 

However, Bolt.Earth said that the layoffs were limited to the product and technology teams involved with the OS and fleet management system segments. “It’s important to clarify that other departments, crucial to our focused business strategy, were not affected by this decision,” the statement said.

The startup is offering 1-2 months of severance pay to the impacted employees. 

The latest round of layoffs came almost four months after the startup fired around 15-20% of its workforce. 

Back then, its cofounders said the layoffs were restricted to the OS team. They attributed the decision to the uncertainty surrounding the Centre’s FAME-II scheme. 

It is pertinent to mention that in October last year, Bolt.Earth announced raising $20 Mn in a funding round from Union Square Ventures, Prime Venture Partners, ITIGO Funds, among others. However, sources told Inc42 then that the round was closed in 2022.

Responding to Inc42’s queries on the delay in announcing the funding round, cofounders Harichandan and Yadav told Inc42 in December last year that it was a “strategic decision”.

Last year, Inc42 also learnt that Bolt.Earth was in talks with investors to raise about $50 Mn and had received a commitment of $30 Mn. 

Responding to a question about this funding round, Bolt.Earth, in the latest statement, said, “We are actively engaged in discussions with potential investors. While we remain confident in our business model and the growing demand for clean energy solutions, we prefer to maintain confidentiality regarding the specifics of these discussions at this stage.”

The startup raised $4 Mn in its Series A funding round led by Union Square Ventures and Prime ventures. 

In terms of financial performance, Bolt.Earth’s parent entity Revos Auto Tech Pte. Ltd reported an operating revenue of 1 Mn Singapore Dollars (SGD) (about INR 6.4 Cr) in FY23, an increase of 617% from SGD 142K (about INR 89 Lakh). However, its loss surged 209.7% to SGD 12.4 Mn (about INR 78.1 Cr) from SGD 4 Mn (about INR 25.2 Cr) in FY22. 

Bolt.Earth didn’t disclose its financial numbers for FY24 but said it “achieved robust revenue growth” during the year.