<ul><li>Thousands lost their jobs amid a deepening funding winter in 2022 amid massive layoffs by the tech companies.</li><li>According to a PwC <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> report, startup funding in India hit a two-year low at $2.7 billion in the third quarter of 2022.</li><li>Seed stage rounds also experienced a contraction and dropped by 38 per cent as compared to the previous year.</li></ul> Indian startups, which saw a massive 35 per cent drop in funding in 2022 -- from $37.2 billion in 2021 to $24.7 billion (till November) -- are bracing themselves for a deepening funding winter in 2023 as recession fears loom. Although some startups, like fintech platform <keyword id="6557529" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="kreditbee" source="Orion">KreditBee</keyword> ($200 million), Foodtech platform HealthKart ($135 million) and HRtech software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform BetterPlace ($40 million), raised decent funds in December last year and in the beginning of January, the scene overall is grim as VC money has squeezed. Thousands lost their jobs amid a deepening funding winter in 2022 amid massive layoffs by the tech companies, which still continues. According to a PwC India report, startup funding in India hit a two-year low at $2.7 billion in the third quarter of 2022. In 2022, the significant drop in funding was attributed to a decline in late-stage investments, which fell by 45 per cent from $29.3 billion in January-November 2021 to $16.1 billion for the same period this year, according to data provided by <keyword id="2779670" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="tracxn" source="Orion">Tracxn</keyword>, a leading global market intelligence platform. Seed stage rounds also experienced a contraction and dropped by 38 per cent as compared to the previous year. The report said that 22 startups entered the unicorn club in 2022, as compared to 46 in the previous year.The number of big ticket ($100 million and above) funding rounds dropped by 35 per cent to 55 as compared to 85 in the reported period. The number of funding rounds saw a drop of 30 per cent, from 2,647 last year to 1,841 this year, the report said. "The funding winter, which began in Q4 of 2021, will persist in 2023 as well. In order to survive the drought, startups are taking unit economics more seriously, which has been illustrated through the series of mass layoffs that have occurred this year," said <keyword id="520013" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="neha-singh" source="Orion">Neha Singh</keyword>, Co-Founder, Tracxn. "Although we are currently experiencing a slump, the situation is prompting startups to establish clearer and more sustainable paths to growth, as investors' evaluation metrics begin to emphasise good profitability over growth at all costs," Singh had said in a statement. The startup ecosystem's funding winter could last another 12 to 18 months and the industry may face "a lot of turmoil and volatility", Flipkart CEO <keyword id="6379357" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="kalyan-krishnamurthy" source="Orion">Kalyan Krishnamurthy</keyword> warned recently. According to <keyword id="12046361" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="shrijay-sheth" source="Orion">Shrijay Sheth</keyword>, Founder, Legalwiz.in, 2023 will continue to be the year of sustenance for most, and funders will continue to remain more cautious. "Both valuation multipliers and funding opportunities will go more conservative. Startups must build better units economics as opposed to expensive acquisitions driven growth channels. Geo-political issues, Global supply chain crisis and other macro issues are expected to prevail," he said. However, this also needs to be seen as a year where resilient, innovative and problem-solving entrepreneurs shall get an opportunity to stand out from the crowd. "As the macro environment gets tougher, we can expect some excellent business models to outshine the rest with high levels of innovation and frugality. Also, mostly the serious funding houses will prevail while we will see visitors in the VC world take a break," <keyword id="262579" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="sheth" source="Orion">Sheth</keyword> noted. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/there-is-a-link-between-drinking-sugary-sodas-and-hair-loss-says-beijing-based-study/slidelist/96796018.cms">There is a link between drinking sugary sodas and hair loss, says Beijing-based study</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/chaman-metallics-first-sme-ipo-of-2023-subscribed-197x/articleshow/96795916.cms">Chaman Metallics, first SME IPO of 2023, subscribed 197x</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/60-of-blue-and-grey-collar-jobs-go-to-freshers-with-tech-skills-billion-careers-report/articleshow/96795198.cms">60% of blue and grey collar jobs go to freshers with tech skills: Billion Careers report</a>

India's startup economy stares at deepening funding winter in 2023

<keyword id="637412" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="infosys-founder" source="Orion">Infosys founder</keyword> <keyword id="6355623" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="narayana-murthy" source="Orion">Narayana Murthy</keyword>'s advice to youngsters in India, urging them to work 70 hours a week, has sparked sharp reactions from founders and leaders who said that while extended working hours can boost productivity, a balanced approach is equally necessary. During a podcast, Murthy had said that if India wants to compete with developed economies that have made remarkable progress in recent decades, youngsters should work for 70 hours a week. Reacting to Murthy's comment, <keyword id="1353462" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="abhishek-desai" source="Orion">Abhishek Desai</keyword>, founder of CricHeroes, told that while extended working hours can boost productivity in certain contexts, "it's equally vital to focus on work-life balance, employee well-being, and harnessing technology to enhance efficiency". "The success of countries like Japan and Germany is undoubtedly commendable, but we must also acknowledge that their work culture may not be entirely replicable in the Indian context," Desai added. Former BharatPe Co-founder <keyword id="2988161" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="ashneer-grover" source="Orion">Ashneer Grover</keyword> said that the public got offended at Murthy's comment as the measure of work done still gets notified based on hours spent rather than the outcome. "I think junta (public) got offended here because work is still being measured in 'hours' rather than 'outcome'. The other thing is people feeling as if youngster's laziness is the only thing keeping India from becoming developed," he posted on X on Friday. Ola CEO <keyword id="1543567" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="bhavish-aggarwal" source="Orion">Bhavish Aggarwal</keyword>, however, agreed with Murthy's view. "Totally agree with Murthy's views. It's not our moment to work less and entertain ourselves. Rather it's our moment to go all in and build in 1 generation what other countries have built over many generations," he posted on X. According to Shrijay Sheth, founder of Legalwiz.in, working long hours does not necessarily translate into better work, bigger outcomes and higher returns for the company. "Primarily, it is about enhanced productivity and achieving the organisational goals. Especially for workforces in the Indian context, longer working hours may result in lower efficiency and, thus, impede the realisation of business objectives," he added.

Murthy's 70-hr-a-week work call to youth trigger sharp reactions from founders

Edtech major <keyword id="2900267" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="byju" source="Orion">BYJU</keyword>'s, in the process of laying off thousands of employees as part of restructuring its business, on Friday hired football star and sports icon Lionel <keyword id="6355806" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="messi" source="Orion">Messi</keyword> as the global brand ambassador for its social impact arm, and the move has not gone well with the industry as well as people. The long-term engagement, which begins as Messi embarks on his final campaign to win the World Cup as captain of Argentina, will see him feature in campaigns promoting BYJU'S 'Education For All'. Abhishek Desai, Founder, CricHeroes, told IANS that it does sound like the irony that where you are laying off people on one side and hiring Messi as your global brand ambassador. "But I think that's the cost everyone pays for growing too fast. It's not that the company does not have money but growing too fast it creates a lot of redundancy in the organisation. Sooner or later you have to fix that and I think these layoffs are a result of that," said Desai. "Not only BYJU's but we are seeing something similar in Twitter also right now which is a public company. Until and unless we come out of this mindset, such incidents are bound to happen," he added. BYJU's founder and CEO <keyword id="1702989" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="byju-raveendran" source="Orion">Byju Raveendran</keyword> have told employees that there is a huge price to pay for walking on the path to profitability and the company will part ways with 5 per cent or 2,500 employees to "avoid role duplication across our businesses". Earlier this year, BYJU'S made history by becoming the official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. Football has roughly 3.5 billion fans worldwide, and Messi has a social media following of nearly 450 million. According to Syed Nadeem Jafri, Founder and Chief Mentor of Hearty Mart, laying off employees is part of any organisational journey. "However, hiring Messi is to counter the dent in the image, which might have happened due to the laying-off move, which seems more like a PR image-building ploy rather than any strategic plan behind it," said Jafri. In Kerala, BYJU's earlier decision to wind up their operations had asked 140 of the 170 employees to quit. However, after conciliatory talks that were led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with BYJU's on Wednesday, it was decided that the edtech unicorn will not shut its operations at the <keyword id="6400701" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="technopark" source="Orion">Technopark</keyword> campus here. The company said they have decided to relook at the restructuring plans and continue its development centre in the Trivandrum Technopark office. Shrijay Sheth, Founder of Legalwiz.in, told IANS that businesses need to realise the value of sustainable hiring to build a long-term employer brand. "What is important here is to provide enough resources to the cohort for finding alternative opportunities, and minimize their personal damage. Entrepreneurs as their core function hold trusteeship of the overall welfare of the stakeholders, including employees," Sheth said. A Twitter user commented: "How's this possible, he wouldn't come for free that too for a company that's reducing its workforce and is in deep losses?" SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/airbnb-and-indigo-come-together-for-an-interfriendtion/articleshow/95298469.cms">Airbnb and IndiGo come together for an 'InterFriendtion'</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/shark-tank-india-season-2-will-start-soon-checkout-first-seasons-top-10-deals/slidelist/95300176.cms">Popsicles to canned cocktails - the top 10 deals cracked in Shark Tank India Season 1</a>

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India's startup economy stares at deepening funding winter in 2023

IANS

Murthy's 70-hr-a-week work call to youth trigger sharp reactions from founders

IANS

Edtech major BYJU's sacks thousands, and then hires Lionel Messi

IANS