[Updated] Glamyo Health Joins Indian Startup Layoff Spree

Update: 07:45 PM, June 2, 2023 | We have had to make several changes in our article since our coverage was based on a YourStory report that has been changed significantly a day after publication.

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In what seems to be another fallout of the ongoing funding winter, Delhi NCR-based healthtech startup Glamyo Health has joined the growing list of startups which have fired employees.

Citing a complaint filed by an employee of the startup, YourStory said that Glamyo Health fired a significant number of employees without any prior notice or without any clarity on final salary settlements.

The complaint, filed by an employee at Barakhamba Road police station in New Delhi, reportedly also claims that Glamyo Health delayed salary payments ‘several times’ over the last few months. 

A former employee was cited as saying that multiple doctors on the startup’s rolls were also impacted by the downsizing.

“About 50 employees were let go in the last two months with the aim of cutting costs and containing losses. But almost all the employees were asked to leave in the last two days without any information of severance, salaries or reasoning,” the report quoted a former employee as saying. 

The report also spoke about allegations that Glamyo’s cofounders Archit Garg and Preet Pal Thakur had ‘expressed intent’ to leave India by June 4, 2023, after shutting down operations completely and firing all employees.

A legal representative of Glamyo termed the claims ‘baseless allegations’ as per the updated report on Yourstory (see our note above)

An aggrieved employee also claimed that the startup has also delayed payments to vendors for over three months now.

Before publishing our article, Inc42 reached out to Glamyo and its investor GSV Ventures for a comment. While the startup is yet to respond to Inc42, GSV declined to comment. 

Founded in 2019, Glamyo Health partners with hospitals and clinics to offer elective surgeries and cosmetic procedures. It also onboards doctors and medical coordinators to cater to the entire patient journey from discharge to insurance clearance. 

The startup last raised $3 Mn in September 2021 and counts Anicut Capital, LetsVenture, Ananta Capital and Agility Ventures among its backers. Overall, it has raised close to $9.4 Mn till date. 

Glamyo Health is part of the group of startups staring at a bleak future due to the slowdown in fundraising and business downturn since early 2022. The situation is particularly hard on early and growth-stage startups that raised funds in 2021, such as Glamyo. 

Consequently, many Indian startups have resorted to layoffs and have cut costs to extend their runways. As per Inc42 layoff tracker, Indian startups have cumulatively fired more than 27,000 employees across the board since the beginning of 2022. 

Earlier this week, house of brands platform Mensa Brands laid off around 30 employees from India Lifestyle Network (ILN), a company which it acquired recently. This followed virtual events platform Airmeet’s layoffs of around 250-300 employees and Reliance JioMart reportedly cutting its workforce by more than 1,000 employees.