BENGALURU: Used-car marketplace Cars24 has laid off nearly 600 employees. This comes at a time when many start-ups are hit by layoffs. In the last few weeks, edtech companies Vedantu and Unacademy together have laid off over 1,000 employees. As per a recent report, there has been a 27% decrease in start-up funding in April.In September last year, Cars24 raised $450 million, and in just two months, again in December, it raised $400 million. The company was valued at $3.3 billion last year. When asked about the layoff, the company’s spokesperson told TNIE this is business as usual- performance-linked exits that happen every year.
The SoftBank and Alpha Wave Global-backed company has shown tremendous growth over the past year, and has fast-tracked its expansion plans in India and globally. “As part of our growth plan, we also launched 7 mega refurbishment labs in India. We have been aggressively hiring the right talent across departments to build a stronger talent pool. In the earlier year, we hired over 8000 people and 127 people in April,” the company said.Launched in 2015, the platform has presence in the Middle East, Australia and Southeast Asia, apart from India.