Sachin Bansal-Led Fintech Navi Fires 200 Employees

IPO-bound fintech startup Navi Technologies has joined the growing list of Indian startups conducting layoffs. Navi reportedly has fired around 200 employees across multiple departments.

According to sources cited by ET, the layoffs started around two weeks ago, and more employees are likely to be fired from the company in the coming days. The sources added that the product development and management teams have seen up to 70% of members impacted by the layoffs at Navi.

According to the draft red herring prospectus filed by Navi, the fintech had a 4,680-strong workforce as of December 31, 2021.

A spokesperson of the fintech unicorn attributed the layoffs to a performance appraisal. “Navi conducts performance appraisals twice a year, which results in expected departures from the company,” said the spokesperson. The fintech did not respond to Inc42’s query related to any severance to which the impacted employees would be entitled to.

“However, Navi continues to have multiple open positions and the company is expected to continue hiring many new employees this year,” the spokesperson added.

The move comes days after Navi said its NBFC arm, Navi Finserv, was raising up to INR 500 Cr through the public issue of Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs). The debt raise opened on Monday (July 10), and the subscriptions will close on July 21.

Navi’s parent company Navi Technologies filed its DRHP in March 2022 to raise INR 4,020 Cr through its IPO, with INR 3,350 Cr coming from the issue raise and around INR 670 Cr from the pre-IPO placement. 

The entire fundraise will be a fresh issue, meaning Sachin Bansal, the founder and largest shareholder, will not dilute his stake in the IPO. 

However, there are no timelines as to when Navi will go public. The fintech unicorn only has about two months before the approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) expires on September 12, 2023.

The layoffs at Navi come as India’s startup ecosystem has been racked by hundreds of layoffs since the start of 2022. At least 105 Indian startups have fired more than 27,300 employees so far, according to Inc42’s ‘Indian Startup Layoff Tracker’. Earlier this week, it was reported that the agritech startup Waycool fired nearly 300 employees in a restructuring exercise.

Update | July 14, 2023, 12:05 PM

The story has been updated with Navi’s comments on the matter.