Hire away! IITs re-open doors to startups during campus placements

A one-year ban on 31 companies, including firms such as Zomato and Portea Medical, from participating in campus placements by the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has been lifted after the board took a call that students wanted to work with start-ups ahead of the placement season.

The IITs had imposed a ban on these start-ups after they withdrew offers made to students in the funding crisis that saw several start-ups rationalise costs and freeze hiring.

The start-up meltdown in 2016 saw several early-stage companies shut shop as funding reduced. At the same time, start-ups that were burning investors money