Cars24 to Vedantu, start-up lay-offs accelerate on capital crunch worries

Falling valuations, slowing funding rounds add to woes; move aimed at conserving cash and shore up profitability

Falling valuations, slowing funding rounds and faltering investor sentiment seem to have prompted many start-ups to lay off employees in a bid to conserve cash. The latest to do so is SoftBank-backed Cars24, a leading e-commerce platform for pre-owned vehicles, which has laid off over 600 staff, according to sources in the know.

The move, they said, is aimed at conserving cash amid cautious investor sentiment and a slowdown in funding.

The layoffs, which constitute more than 6 per cent of the company’s total employee strength of around 9,000, have taken place across departments and roles. Cars24 confirmed the layoffs but declined