Sequoia-Backed Foodtech Unicorn Rebel Foods Fires Employees

Foodtech unicorn Rebel Foods has laid off nearly 2% of its workforce. The startup attributed the layoffs to annual performance evaluation and a realignment within the company. 

“Any news heard is on account of annual performance evaluation and realigning the organisation to our priorities for future goals. The impacted number is less than 2% of our organisational strength,” a Rebel Foods spokesperson said.

As per the startup’s LinkedIn profile, Rebel Foods employs 2,521 people. This translates to about 50 employees losing their jobs. 

The Economic Times was the first to report about the layoffs at the startup.

The retrenchments come close on the heels of the foodtech startup posting hefty loss for the financial year 2021-22 (FY22). The startup‘s net loss widened 55% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 564.4 Cr in FY22 from INR 364 Cr in FY21. However, total revenue during the period also nearly doubled to INR 907 Cr from INR 436.5 Cr during the previous fiscal year.

The development comes a month after Rebel Foods bagged INR 55 Cr in a debt funding round from existing investors InnoVen Capital and Trifecta Capital.

Founded in 2011 by Jaydeep Barman and Kallol Banerjee, Rebel Foods is a cloud kitchen platform that operates a range of popular brands such as Faasos, Behrouz Biryani, Ovenstory Pizza, Mandarin Oak, The Good Bowl, among others. 

Backed by big names such as Goldman Sachs, Sequoia Capital India, and Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Rebel Foods last raised $175 Mn as part of its Series F round led by QIA in October 2021. 

Rebel Foods has joined a growing list of Indian startups that have undertaken layoffs in the past one week. Earlier in the day, Inc42 reported that social media platform Sharechat’s parent company Mohalla Tech fired 500 employees, or 20% of its workforce. Reliance-backed quick commerce startup Dunzo also sacked nearly 3% of its workforce last week.

Last week, enterprisetech startup Skit.ai laid off around 115 employees, while fintech platform Cashfree Payments sacked 80 employees as part of an organisational restructuring exercise. Ride-hailing giant Ola also fired 200 employees across its tech and product teams this month.

As per Inc42’s layoff tracker, Indian startups laid off more than 18,000 employees last year. Meanwhile, the momentum has continued in 2023 as well as macroeconomic pressures continue to mount while investors tighten their purse strings. 

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