Video microblogging platform Frankly.me lays off employees

Pochi Media Pvt Ltd, the Delhi-based company behind video microblogging platform Frankly.me, has laid off 30 employees, or about 40 per cent of its workforce.

The development was first reported by Inc 42.

However, a report by NextBigWhat put the number of employees sacked at 40. This report said that Nikunj Jain, founder of the venture, confirmed the layoffs without specifying the number of employees fired.

Queries sent by Techcircle.in to Pochi Media went unanswered by the time of filing this article.

While the Inc42 report mentioned that the company pivoting its business model, NextBigWhat said that it was struggling to raise follow-on funding.

Frankly.me was founded in March 2014 by IIT Delhi alumni Nikunj Jain and Abhishek Gupta. It is an online platform that enables users to post a question and get answers from celebrities and experts through video selfies.

In January, Frankly.me received $600,000 (Rs 3.8 crore) in seed funding from multi-asset investment firm Matrix Partners India.

Trouble in the paradise

Frankly.me joins a growing list of startups that are laying off employees. This, many believe, is due to flawed hiring policies and high cash burn that has made investors more cautious while making follow-on investments in startups.

A couple of days ago, Mumbai-based Imma Web Pvt Ltd, which runs LocalOye, a mobile-only marketplace for local household and personal service providers, laid off 60 of its 100-member call servicing unit staff as part of it restructuring plans.

Food ordering startup TinyOwl has terminated the services of 212 employees over the past three months while real estate portal Housing.com has sacked 800 employees and is laying off more. Overall, startups have laid off an estimated 1,700 employees over the past three months.

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