In one of the biggest steps toward attaining profitability, Waycool, an agritech firm, has laid off over 200 employees across various departments. This is the third round of layoffs for the Chennai-based company, which has been striving to bring about better operational efficiencies and bring down costs.
PC: Medial
A Waycool spokesperson said, “Each of WayCool’s businesses is executing their plans to get to profitability. As a part of this, roles and structures are further simplified and automated. This will be a continual process.” However, the company did not disclose the number of employees affected in this round of layoffs.
The previous layoffs were in July 2023 and February 2024, with more than 370 employees laid off in those rounds. This time, the layoffs affected employees from locations at Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and subsidiaries of Waycool – CensaNext and BrandNext.
According to sources, Waycool has been in negotiations for a fresh funding round of over $50 million, increasing the valuation of the firm to about $900 million to $1 billion. These talks broke off, and the agri-tech company’s valuation remains at $700 million—just as in its last equity round. So far, Waycool has raised around $160 million from investors like Lightrock, International Finance Corporation, FMO, and 57 Stars.
Waycool has been facing issues with scaling and raising fresh funds, as per reports. Though the company is yet to file its annual report for FY24, in FY23 it posted a 62 percent increase in operating revenues to Rs 1,251 crore from Rs 772 crore in FY22. Its losses rose 89 percent to Rs 685 crore in FY23.
Founded by Karthik Jayaraman and Sanjay Dasari, Waycool focuses on the procurement of fresh produce, including dairy products, from farmers and selling it to retailers and restaurants. The firm runs private label brands and a distribution business for FMCG companies.
This wave of layoffs comes as the second major downsizing in the agritech sector, weeks after ReshaMandi decided to cut almost 80% of its workforce. Agritech has been one of the least funded segments in the first half of 2024, with startups in this space raising only $94 million across 22 deals, accounting for just 1.34% of the overall fundraising during H1 2024, according to data compiled by TheKredible.
Layoffs at Waycool reflect funding, profitability problems for agritech firms at large. As this sector continues to build out, companies like Waycool are likely to face continuous pressure on optimizing operations and showing sustainable growth.
