Exclusive: Home Decor Unicorn LivSpace Lays Off 100 Employees

Home renovation and interiors platform Livspace has become the latest startup to lay off employees as part of a cost-cutting exercise amid the ongoing funding winter. The Singapore-headquartered startup informed the impacted employees about job cuts through emails sent on Thursday (March 17), sources told Inc42.

The sources said the layoffs are part of a cost-cutting exercise as the startup is looking at ways to extend its runway.

According to the company, the layoffs have impacted 2% of the total workforce. The number of impacted employees due to layoffs stands at over 100. Product, engineering, content, and marketing teams were the most impacted by the layoffs, a source added. 

“The business has more than doubled over the past year and we aim to turn profitable in the coming year. We have a strong balance sheet, are backed by marquee investors and are well-positioned to deliver long-term sustainable growth for the company. Our focus continues to be on the most efficient deployment of capital and resources to maximize value for our shareholders, customers, partners and employees,” the company said in a statement.

“In a company of our size, we will, in the normal course of our operations, redeploy resources. This is organic and a reflection of normal adjustments and/or performance management parameters,” it added.

“We were told that the company will not offer any kind of severance package and will only pay for 15 days that we have worked in this month,” one of the sources said. However the company said that it has offered assistance package and medical insurance to the impacted employees.

“We are taking all the necessary steps to ensure we provide employees with a smooth transition in the form of an assistance package, extended medical insurance and necessary outplacement services wherever possible within our network,” it said ain a statement.

“We are continuously investing in building the best culture and in creating the best career path for our employees,” it added.

The latest layoffs came almost three years after Livspace fired 450 employees during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Founded in 2014 by Anuj Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma, Livspace is a curated marketplace that provides an end-to-end home design experience. The startup’s online marketplace also offers software tools that can help designers and homeowners design interiors.

Livspace entered the coveted unicorn club last year after raising $180 Mn in a funding round led by American investment giant KKR & Co. Back then, the startup said that the capital will be used for foreign expansion.  

Livspace has raised over $400 Mn in multiple rounds to date and counts marquee names such as Goldman Sachs, TPG Growth, and Bessemer Venture Partners among its investors. 

The startup’s net loss jumped 1.5X to INR 645.2 Cr in FY22 from INR 416 Cr in FY21. While its sales jumped to INR 570 Cr, expenses ballooned to INR 1,215 Cr in FY22. 

Earlier this month, HomeLane, a competitor of Livspace, also sacked 30-40 employees. 

As per Inc42’s layoff tracker, Indian startups, including Livspace, have laid off around 23,000 employees since 2022, when the funding winter engulfed the Indian startup ecosystem.