Community and security management start-up, MyGate, has laid off 30 per cent of its employees as part of a cost-cutting exercise due to a "funding winter". The company, based in Bengaluru, let go of employees in mid-management and junior roles in the last two weeks, according to YourStory. The report added that the company had laid off a similar percentage of employees in December 2022, reducing the employee count from 600 to 400.
Founded in 2016, MyGate offers security solutions for apartment complexes at entry and exit gates, as well as other security-related systems, such as RFID cards, biometrics and vehicle stickers. Its mobile app offers various services, including visitor, delivery and daily help management, along with child security to individual residents.
The company had raised $79.5 million in total funding to date with its most recent round in November 2022, when it received $12.2m million in a funding round led by Urban Company and Acko. However, with the onset of the funding winter and macroeconomic headwinds, Indian start-ups laid off employees in 2022 to cut costs and increase their runways and the trend has continued in 2023. MyGate is not alone in this, with multiple startups like OLX, Sirion Labs and Innovaccer all firing employees, while tech giants like Google, Microsoft and Amazon have also laid off thousands of employees.
According to the report, some of the laid-off employees at MyGate were offered a salary of two months as a severance package, while others were not paid any severance.
MyGate was founded by Vijay Arisetty, Vivaik Bharadwaj, Shreyans Daga, and Abhishek Kumar in 2016. The company's security solutions for apartment complexes have made it a popular choice among residents, and its app has helped to simplify daily tasks and ensure child safety. However, the current funding climate has forced MyGate to make difficult decisions regarding its workforce.