Meat startup Licious lays off 80 employees in a cost-cutting exercise
In an interview with YourStory last year, Licious founders said the company was engaging with investors to raise capital, adding that it still has more than $100 million in the bank.
Meat unicorn has laid off about 3% of its workforce, or 80 employees, as part of a cost-cutting exercise. The employees were informed on February 9.
The company has offered two months of severance pay along with the variable payout for FY24 to the employees who were let go.
As of January this year, Licious now employs 650 corporate staff and 2,350 people across production and supply chain operations.
"We are reprioritising our cost outlays, considering the new growth levers. In doing this, it is unfortunate that we have to separate with some employees who have been a part of our journey,” the company said in a statement.
The Bengaluru-based startup narrowed its losses while experiencing a slight boost in its revenue in FY23. It reported losses amounting to Rs 528.6 crore, a 38.2% reduction from the Rs 855.6 crore loss incurred in the previous financial year on a consolidated basis. Meanwhile, its operating revenue increased by 9.6%, touching Rs 747.8 crore in FY23, compared with Rs 682.6 crore in FY22.
Licious said that it is tracking an annual revenue run rate of Rs 900 crore
In an interview with YourStory last year, the company said it was engaging with investors to raise capital, adding that it still has more than $100 million in the bank.
Founded in 2015 by Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, Licious operates in the meat delivery space. It has raised about $490 million to date from investors like Mohandas Pai, Kanwaljit Singh, and Mayfield Fund.
(The article was updated with Licious' statement.)
Edited by Kanishk Singh