TinyOwl, an online food-ordering startup, is reportedly cutting 112 jobs in another round of layoffs, as the company undertakes restructuring to reduce operating costs.
The latest layoffs will mostly take place in its sales division in Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune. In its last round of layoffs, the Mumbai-based firm had cut nearly 200 jobs in September, mainly in its sales and delivery divisions.
"It was a tough decision," cofounder and chief executive of TinyOwl Harshvardhan Mandad, told The Economic Times.
"Going forward, our operations will have to be more tech-oriented because margins are thin in the food business as compared to other online marketplaces," said Mandad.
Following the latest retrenchment, the startup expects its total headcount to come down to 650 from 1,000 employees it had earlier this year.
Amid a slowdown in the fundraising market, many food-ordering startups are looking to initiate cost cutting measures and concentrate on setting up sustainable business models.
Last month, global online food ordering firm Foodpanda Group was reportedly in plans to sell its Indian arm as the competition has become fierce in the food-ordering business.
Backed by Rocket Internet, Foodpanda was looking to change its strategy as the going was becoming increasingly tough in the Indian market due to intense competition from TinyOwl, Swiggy and Zomato.
TinyOwl said that it was running a new operational structure in Mumbai and Bengaluru on a pilot basis. Under the new structure, the company has "automated" the processing of orders and delivery.
TinyOwl's existing investors Matrix Partners India and Sequoia Capital have recently infused Rs 50 crore into the company as it is in the process of restructuring operations.
In September, an ET report said that Rocket Internet was looking to sell its top e-commerce firms Jabong, Foodpanda and FabFurnish amid intense competition in the Indian online retail sector.
