The local unit of Rocket Internet – backed online food ordering venture, Foodpanda India has shaded more than 300 employees. The decision came out in such a time when Foodpanda India is facing high competition from Zomato and other similar startups, moreover the dropped off workforce constitute 15% of company’s overall workforce. Prior to reduction, employee strength of company was 2200 employees.
Saurabh Kochhar, CEO, Foodpanda India, addressing media in a Press Conference said “While we continued to invest in processes and technology we also had to take some difficult decisions but we believe them to be necessary steps on our path to become sustainable and profitable within the targeted timeline.”
“Re-organization of the business was done across every aspect, from technology to processes to customer service,” having said so Kochhar added that this layoffs is for Indian units only, he also informed that after this massive drop in workforce, there will be no more layoffs scheduled by the company in near future at least.
“At present we do not have any such plans, as we continue to grow at a rapid speed and we believe the year 2016 is going be a great year for our business. We are focused on building scalable revenues and capabilities with a long-term goal,” Kochhar said.
According to the official company statement, the decision to lay off employees was taken after it achieved “about 98% automation rate in order processing,” helped by a combination of “stronger processes and controls to make operations more efficient.”
If media is to be believed than, around five months back news surfaced that Rohit Chadda who was Managing Director of company and was also given designation of co-Founder is stepping down for day-to-day responsibilities.
Saurabh Kochhar before joining Foodpanda as a India CEO was founder of personalized printing startup Printvenue.
Business tracks of Foodpanda suggest that its services are active in over 30 countries across the globe. The company is however facing high competition in India piping hot food-ordering and delivery industry. The industry reports say that Foodpanda has pegged Rs.95000 crore within India itself.
Foodpanda is part of the Global Online Takeaway Delivery group created earlier this year by Rocket Internet, and counts Goldman Sachs as an investor. Globally, the company has raised $310 million since its inception in 2012, with Rocket holding a majority stake.
There has also been ongoing speculation that Berlin-based incubator and investor was strongly considering putting up a number of its top ventures in India on the block. The company, however, has declined to comment on the same.
