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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 more than 160 employees across all teams, including sales, operations, and city management departments, without any clear communication on final salary settlements, according to an FIR with the Barakhamba Police Station in New Delhi on May 31, 2023. The FIR was filed by an employee on behalf of the 160 affected workers.

YourStory has reviewed a copy of the FIR.

In the FIR, the employees have alleged that the company has delayed salary payments several times over the last few months, and has even cut salaries and let go of workers without prior notice. This has also impacted several doctors who were on the firm’s payroll.

Some employees were paid salaries for the month of May an hour before this article was filed, a former employee told YourStory.

The FIR also notes that the founders have said that they are likely to declare bankruptcy in the coming days after suffering huge losses. The complainant adds that the business earns a revenue of over Rs 5 crore every month and alleges that the founders are pocketing the company’s profits as personal gains. 

The letter 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. 

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,” this person told YourStory, asking not to be named.

The discontented employees staged a protest at the healthtech firm’s New Delhi office on May 31 and June 1, escorted by the police, demanding clarity from the founders on the state of affairs at the company.

YourStory has reached out to the founders and investors for comments. The story will be updated with their responses.

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. It was looking to raise up to $6 million this year from existing and new investors such as 4Point0, Blacksoil, and We Founder Circle, according to an industry executive aware of the developments. 

However, the deal fell through in March possibly due to tough market conditions, this person said.

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, the industry executive 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,” the executive added.

Glamyo said last year that it aimed to double its workforce by the end of 2022 and that it had an annualised run rate of $80 million.

(This is a developing story. It will be updated with newer information)