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Amid a tough economic environment, Glamyo Health seems to have joined the growing list of battered startups resorting to severe cost-cutting measures.

The surgery care startup has laid off a significant number of employees across teams without any clear communication on final salary settlements, according to two sources who did not wish to be identified. 

Separately, an employee filed a complaint with the Barakhamba Road Police Station in New Delhi on May 31, 2023, alleging that Glamyo has delayed salary payments several times over the last few months, cut salaries, and let go of workers without prior notice. 

YourStory has reviewed a copy of the complaint. 

Even doctors on the startup’s payroll were affected by the layoffs, according to a former employee who did not want to be named.

Some employees were paid salaries for the month of May an hour before this article was filed (on June 1, 2023), the former employee told YourStory.

The complaint adds that Glamyo’s founders Archit Garg and Preet Pal Thakur have expressed intent to leave the country by June 4, 2023, after laying off all employees and shutting down operations completely.

In a notice to YourStory, a legal representative for Glamyo termed the claims as “baseless allegations”.

Glamyo has also delayed payments to vendors by more than three months, according to the former employee quoted above.

“About 50 employees were let go in the last two months with the aim of cutting costs and containing losses. But almost all the employees were asked to leave in the last two days without any information of severance, salaries or reasoning,” said the former employee mentioned above.

Agility Ventures, Glamyo’s biggest investor, said in response to YourStory‘s queries that it is evaluating the situation closely and will assist Glamyo in navigating the situation once it has better clarity on the developments.

Glamyo Health offers elective and cosmetic surgeries through tie-ups with over 350 hospitals and clinics. The partnership enables the firm’s in-house surgeons to use the operation theatres at these hospitals for a fee.

Backed by marquee funds including Agility Ventures, Anicut Capital, and LetsVenture, Glamyo has raised more than $7 million in funding so far.

The firm’s asset-light model has helped it scale massively over the last few years. In March last year, it had more than 10 surgical categories providing over 50 treatments, according to the company. It had a presence in over 16 cities as of 2022 and had plans to scale up to 45 cities by the end of FY23. 

But Glamyo grew at the cost of profitability, an industry executive familiar with Glamyo’s operations said. “The asset-light model certainly helped in keeping costs down, but not for too long. The firm would often offer steep discounts on surgeries which would dent their bottom line,” an industry executive said, also declining to be identified.

Glamyo said last year that it aimed to double its workforce by the end of 2022 and that it was aiming for an annualised revenue run rate of $80 million, according to media reports.

(Correction: The story has been updated to reflect that Glamyo Health’s employee had filed a ‘complaint’ with the Barakhamba Road police station, and not an ‘FIR’. The story also clarifies the sourcing for the layoffs in the second para.

An earlier version said Glamyo Health was looking to raise money from three funds. This has been removed after one fund denied the talks.

We apologise for the mistakes.)