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Home interiors and renovation platform <keyword id="2644491" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="livspace" source="Orion">Livspace</keyword> has laid off at least 100 employees as part of cost-cutting measures, the media reported. According to a report in leading startups coverage portal Inc42, the layoffs impacted 2 per cent of Livspace's workforce, affecting product, engineering, content, and marketing teams. The company said in a statement that "we will, in the normal course of our operations, redeploy resources". "This is organic and a reflection of normal adjustments and/or performance management parameters," it said, adding that the business has more than doubled over the past year and it aims to turn profitable in the coming year. Livspace had sacked 450 employees during the first wave of the Covid pandemic. In October last year, the company earmarked $100 million to invest and incubate new offerings and brands in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) market in the home interiors and renovation segment. Singapore-based Livspace said it aims to create multiple home interiors and renovation solutions and D2C offerings which serve homeowners across various segments in its markets across India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East region. "As we continue to scale across new segments in existing geographies and enter new regional markets, we are looking for successful businesses and like-minded entrepreneurs that help us scale even faster," <keyword id="354664" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="anuj-srivastava" source="Orion">Anuj Srivastava</keyword>, CEO and Co-founder, of Livspace, said. Livspace currently has operations in over 45 cities across Southeast Asia, India, and the Middle East region. It has raised around $450 million in capital from some of the top global investors including KKR, Ingka Group Investments (part of the largest IKEA retailer Ingka Group), <keyword id="141646" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tpg-growth" source="Orion">TPG Growth</keyword>, Goldman Sachs, Kharis Capital, <keyword id="8869182" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="venturi-partners" source="Orion">Venturi Partners</keyword> and others. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/google-i/o-2023-pixel-7a-pixel-fold-pixel-tablet-android-14-and-everything-we-expect-to-see/articleshow/98798666.cms">Google I/O 2023 – Pixel 7a, Pixel Fold, Pixel Tablet, Android 14, and everything we expect to see</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/indian-carriers-to-report-1-6-1-8-billion-consolidated-loss-in-fy24-says-industry-body-capa/articleshow/98799040.cms">Indian carriers to report $1.6-1.8 billion consolidated loss in FY24 says industry body CAPA</a>

Home decor company Livspace lays off 100 employees

<ul><li><keyword id="2644491" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="livspace" source="Orion">Livspace</keyword> currently has operations in over 45 cities across Southeast Asia, India, and the Middle-east region.</li><li>The company said it has witnessed over 100 per cent growth in the last six months and 400 per cent over the last two years.</li><li>Singapore-based Livspace aims to create multiple home interiors and renovation solutions. </li></ul> Home interiors and renovation platform Livspace on Monday said it has earmarked $100 million to invest and incubate new offerings and brands in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) market in the home interiors and renovation segment. With this money, Singapore-based Livspace aims to create multiple home interiors and renovation solutions and D2C offerings which serve homeowners across various segments in its markets across India, South-east Asia and the Middle-East region. "As we continue to scale across new segments in existing geographies and enter new regional markets, we are looking for successful businesses and like-minded entrepreneurs that help us scale even faster," said <keyword id="354664" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="anuj-srivastava" source="Orion">Anuj Srivastava</keyword>, CEO and Co-founder, Livspace. "In line with this, we will aggressively and methodically pursue a build-or-buy strategy to create the maximum value for the ecosystem and deliver the best experience to our customers and ecosystem partners," he added. Livspace has deployed part of the allocated capital in acquiring a majority stake in companies such as <keyword id="15210361" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="qanvast" source="Orion">Qanvast</keyword>, which connects homeowners and trusted design professionals. It is looking at investing in content destinations, direct-to-consumer interior brands and D2C private labels. The strategy will be spearheaded by Ankit Shah, Chief Strategy Officer, Livspace. "The capital and resource allocation strategy will help our business scale faster across markets, grow our margin stack further and create strong defensible moats," Shah said. Livspace currently has operations in over 45 cities across Southeast Asia, India, and the Middle-east region. The company said it has witnessed over 100 per cent growth in the last six months and 400 per cent over the last two years. Livspace has raised around $450 million in capital from some of the top global investors including KKR, <keyword id="15210362" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="ingka-group-investments" source="Orion">Ingka Group Investments</keyword> (part of largest IKEA retailer Ingka Group), <keyword id="141646" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tpg-growth" source="Orion">TPG Growth</keyword>, <keyword id="6361649" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="goldman-sachs" source="Orion">Goldman Sachs</keyword>, Kharis Capital, <keyword id="8869182" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="venturi-partners" source="Orion">Venturi Partners</keyword> and others. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/ms-dhoni-launches-camera-drone-droni-in-partnership-with-garuda-aerospace/articleshow/94755452.cms">MS Dhoni launches camera drone Droni in partnership with Garuda Aerospace</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/this-world-mental-health-day-lets-unlock-the-behavioural-effects-of-lockdown/articleshow/94754635.cms">This World Mental Health Day, let's unlock the behavioural effects of lockdown</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/mulayam-singh-yadav-the-dhartiputra-of-national-politics/articleshow/94753893.cms">Mulayam Singh Yadav: The Dhartiputra of national politics</a>

Livspace earmarks $100 mn to invest in D2C brands in home segment

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Livspace&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Livspace</a> has launched the world’s first ‘Home Design <keyword id="2812053" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="automation-platform">Automation Platform</keyword>’. The platform enables <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=interior+designers&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">interior designers</a> to design 400-600% faster, earn up to 6 times and become ‘design entrepreneurs’. The company plans to create 30,000 ‘Design Entrepreneurs’ in India. 
 
Speaking about the platform, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Anuj+Srivastava&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Anuj Srivastava</a>, CEO and Co-founder of <keyword id="2644491" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="LivSpace">Livspace</keyword>, said, “Our platform is inspired by some of the most popular technology platforms worldwide in the on-demand transport, travel accommodation, and mobile industry in terms of its potential, capabilities and sophistication.” 
 
Livspace is inviting a select set of interior designers and studios to join the ‘Livspace Home Design Partner Programme’ which will be currently available in metros. The programme is a holistic offering comprising of access to unlimited customer leads, free usage of the design automation platform, Livspace studios, an eCommerce store and project management support to design beautiful homes in 12 weeks. Designers can sign up and apply to the program at <a href="http://www.livspace.com/designpartners">www.livspace.com/designpartners</a>. 
 
The platform enables 10x faster project turnaround time. The company claims this platform will help it grow by another 3 – 5 times in the next 12 months. 
 
Livspace is aiming to potentially organize the fragmented $25 billion home design industry in India with this one stop platform.

This Startup is changing the way people dream of living

<ul><li>The company has raised $180 million from <keyword id="6354544" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kkr" source="Orion">KKR</keyword>, <keyword id="6371031" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ikea" source="Orion">Ikea</keyword> and others.</li><li>It plans to use this capital to enter APAC, MENA and Australia.</li><li><keyword id="2644491" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="livspace" source="Orion">Livspace</keyword> is the fourth Indian startup to turn into a unicorn in 2022.</li></ul>Home interior and renovation company Livspace on Tuesday announced that it turned into a unicorn by crossing the billion-dollar valuation mark. The company has raised $180 million in a funding round led by KKR &amp; Co. Swedish retail Ikea, along with the company’s existing backers like Jungle Ventures, Venturi Partners and Peugeot, also invested in this round. Overall, the company has raised nearly half a billion to date. The company plans to use this capital to double down on international expansion and take on local competitors like HomeLane, Stokers, At Home Group, Pepperfry and American Furniture Warehouse. "Our business is growing exponentially in both India and Singapore, and we aim to replicate this playbook, launch new solutions and accelerate our launches across new markets with operations across APAC, MENA and Australia,” Anuj Srivastava, cofounder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Livspace, said in a statement. So far, four Indian startups have turned into a unicorn in 2022. This includes AI analytics <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/fractal-raised-360-million-funding-from-tpg-at-1-billion-valuation/articleshow/88712189.cms">Fractal</a>, edtech startup <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/lead-school-joins-byjus-upgrad-as-the-sixth-edtech-unicorn-of-india/articleshow/88867816.cms">LeadSchool</a> and software-as-a-service (SaaS) company Darwinbox. Mamaearth too had officially announced its unicorn funding this year, but the development was already <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/india-is-home-to-81-unicorns-now-as-mamaearth-globalbees-make-it-to-the-list/articleshow/88558418.cms">reported based on regulatory filings </a>by the end of 2021. The year 2021 was the best one for Indian startups as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/2021-indias-year-of-the-unicorn-and-its-many-high-points/slidelist/88528773.cms">four startups turned a unicorn every month</a>. Overall, 44 startups were valued over $1 billion last year. Piyush Goyal, the minister of industry and commerce, hopes that India will create 75 unicorns in 2022. SEE ALSO <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/adani-wilmar-tvs-motor-bharti-airtel-irctc-and-other-hot-stocks-on-february-8/slidelist/89418927.cms">Adani Wilmar, TVS Motor, Bharti Airtel, IRCTC and other hot stocks on February 8</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/interview-indias-latest-software-unicorn-is-wetting-its-feet-in-america-after-holding-its-horses-for-seven-years/articleshow/89409491.cms">INTERVIEW: India’s latest software unicorn is wetting its feet in America after holding its horses for seven years</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/future-groups-kishore-biyani-mohandas-pai-and-68-others-invest-in-former-twitter-india-heads-latest-startup/articleshow/89403045.cms">Future Group’s Kishore Biyani, Mohandas Pai and 68 others invest in former Twitter India head’s latest startup</a>

Reliance investor KKR, Ikea and others turn Livspace into a unicorn

New Delhi, May 25 () Bengaluru-based Livspace, which is into home design and renovation, has laid off 450 employees -- 15 per cent of its total workforce -- due to an adverse impact of the coronavirus-induced lockdown. The decision to lay off was taken last week. Earlier this month, leading co-working operator WeWork India also announced laying off nearly 100 employees. Founded in 2015 by Ramakant Sharma and Anuj Srivastava, Livspace provides a three-sided marketplace and a design automation platform that connects homeowners, certified designers and vendors. Livspace uses data science-enabled algorithms to match homeowners with designers (based on style preferences, budget, scope of work and timelines). "Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, like every business in the discretionary purchase sector, Livspace also has experienced a sudden and unpredictable impact on business," the company said in a statement. Earlier in April, its founders gave up their annual salary, the leadership team relinquished their annual bonuses and the company introduced success-based variable pay across the board, it said. "But, we are definitely seeing a more unpredictable recovery path with the conditions still being very unstable, and, in response, we are steering the company in a more focused and leaner direction," Livspace said. The company decided to downsize its employees strength. "About 15 per cent of the organisation or 450 people have been impacted due to this decision, which, honestly, was the last resort for us," Livspace said, adding that it was an extremely difficult decision. Livspace said the company will provide health cover to these 450 employees and their families for the next three months. "Every confirmed employee who has spent more than 3 months at Livspace will receive extra pay proportional to the duration of their service. As a result, people will be receiving anywhere between one to four weeks worth of extra pay," the statement said. This monetary package has been created above and beyond any contractual obligations, it added. In line with contractual requirements, and in addition to the assistance package, employees will receive one month's pay for serving the notice period or in lieu thereof. Anuj Srivastava, co-founder and CEO at Livspace, said, "Letting go of our employees who have helped all of us build this company into the dominant player in our industry is one of the most difficult decisions that we had to take." MJH MKJ

Startup Livspace lays off 450 employees on adverse business impact from COVID-19

<ul><li>Bengaluru-based <keyword id="9246618" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="home-decor-company-livspace">home decor company Livspace</keyword> has laid off 15% of its workforce – or 450 employees – owing to unpredictable impact on its business during the Covid-19 lockdown times. </li><li>In line with contractual requirements, and in addition to the assistance package, employees will receive one month's pay for serving the notice period or in lieu thereof.</li><li>Founded in 2014 by Srivastava, Ramakant Sharma and Shagufta Anurag to offer end-to-end home design experience, Livspace Group has three subsidiaries – Home interior, e-homemaker and Livspace Pte.</li></ul>Bengaluru-based home decor company Livspace has laid off 15 per cent of its workforce – or 450 employees – owing to unpredictable impact on its business during the Covid-19 lockdown times. Anuj Srivastava, Co-founder and CEO at Livspace, said that letting go of employees who have helped all of us build this company into the dominant player in our industry is one of the most difficult decisions. "We have extended their medical cover, have offered a monetary package to help them in these times, and we have also set up an outplacement cell," Srivastava said in a statement on Tuesday. Founded in 2014 by Srivastava, Ramakant Sharma and Shagufta Anurag to offer end-to-end home design experience, Livspace Group has three subsidiaries – Home interior, e-homemaker and Livspace Pte. Livspace said it has decided to cover those impacted and their families with health insurance for another three months. "Every confirmed employee who has spent more than 3 months at Livspace will receive extra pay proportional to the duration of their service," said the company. It has created an outplacement team within the company which will help the impacted employees find another career opportunity. In line with contractual requirements, and in addition to the assistance package, employees will receive one month's pay for serving the notice period or in lieu thereof. "The impact of COVID on our business has been sudden and unpredictable. Hence, it was important that we become a leaner and more focused organization," said Ramakant Sharma, co-founder and COO at Livspace. Livspace recently raised $157.6 million in funding from investors such as TPG Growth, Goldman Sachs, Jungle Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and Helion Ventures and IKEA. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/checkout-what-type-of-activity-allowed-and-not-allowed-in-punjab-during-lockdown-4-0/articleshow/75819169.cms">Punjab lockdown guidelines till May 31 — Shops, salons, offices and banks to resume operations</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/karnataka-lockdown-4-0-guidelines-checkout-what-is-allowed-and-not-allowed-during-lockdown/articleshow/75822333.cms">These are the revised guidelines for Karnataka — saloons, shops can open but everything will be closed on every Sunday</a>

Home decor firm Livspace lays off 450 employees

<ul><li><keyword id="1107" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sunil-kataria" source="Orion">Sunil Kataria</keyword>, Chief Executive Officer, India and SAARC, <keyword id="140888" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="godrej-consumer-products" source="Orion">Godrej Consumer Products</keyword> Limited has been re-elected as the Chairman of the <keyword id="32717" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-society-of-advertisers" source="Orion">Indian Society of Advertisers</keyword>.</li><li>Sunil has led the Society over the past five years.</li><li>The <keyword id="222666" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="isa" source="Orion">ISA</keyword> played a significant role in formation of BARC and is closely partnering with it towards advertisers getting robust and credible data.</li></ul>The newly elected Executive Council of the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) has elected Sunil Kataria, Chief Executive Officer, India and SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products Limited as the Chairman of the ISA. Sunil has led the Society over the past five years to greater heights garnering support from the fellow Executive Council members, the ISA members and other industry bodies. On his election for the sixth consecutive term as the Chairman of the ISA, Sunil said, “In our journey towards creating greater value proposition for the ISA in the industry, the focus will be to make this unique body even stronger in the future to provide value added support to our members for the new normal and beyond. With the digital advertising having ascended as second only to TV and growing even further, our endeavour this year would be take forward our efforts in the area of digital measurement. The ISA’s plans to work with BARC to create a Multimedia Measurement are progressing in good shape. We heartily thank all fraternity organizations for their strong partnering and this will surely help us scale newer heights. I also acknowledge the continuing support by the ISA members in all our endeavours.” He further added, “In particular reference to the Covid-19 pandemic, I am glad to acknowledge the cooperation of all our members, industry associates, vendors and ISA Secretariat team in staying safe, getting vaccinated and adhering to directives by health authorities and governments”. ISA is the apex national body as a strong voice to advertisers over the last 69 years. Its cross-sector advertiser members contribute to more than half of the annual national non-governmental ad spends. ISA, which is a founder member of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and one of the founders of ASCI, continues to partner with other industry bodies that connect to the advertisers. The ISA played a significant role in formation of BARC and is closely partnering with it towards advertisers getting robust and credible data. Other members of the Executive Council are: Atul Agrawal, Senior Vice President – Corporate Brand and Marketing, Tata Services Limited Narendra Ambwani, Director, Agro Tech Foods Limited Tarun G. Arora, Chief Executive Officer &amp; Whole Time Director, Zydus Wellness Limited Subhadip Dutta Choudhury, Chief Executive Officer, Hawkins Cookers Limited Paulomi Dhawan, Independent Director, Whistling Woods International Neil George, Managing Director, Nivea India Pvt Limited Girish Kalyanaraman, Vice President, Brand Operations, Procter &amp; Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Limited Chandru Kalro, Managing Director, TTK Prestige Limited Devraj Lahiri, Chief Operating Officer - India Tobacco Division, ITC Limited Angshu Mallick, Managing Director &amp; CEO, Adani Wilmar Limited Bharat V. Patel, Independent Director, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited Anuj Poddar, Executive Director, Bajaj Electricals Limited Ramakrishnan Ramamurthi, Advisor J. K. Enterprises Ram Raghavan, Managing Director, Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited <keyword id="2907402" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gauravjeet-singh" source="Orion">Gauravjeet Singh</keyword>, General Manager – Media Services (South Asia) Media Dept, Hindustan Unilever Limited Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Director (Marketing &amp; Sales), Maruti Suzuki India Limited

Sunil Kataria elected as the Chairman of The Indian Society of Advertisers for the sixth consecutive term

<ul><li>Through a pilot, Livspace said that it already has a $15 million gross revenue run rate and is growing at 25% month-on-month in Singapore. </li><li>Livspace is also investing $30 million to grow its business in Singapore. </li><li>Earlier this year, Livspace had raised funding from Ingka Group – a key franchise partner of Swedish furniture giant, IKEA.</li></ul>Home interiors and renovation platform Livspace has entered the Singapore market. Through a six-month long pilot, the startup said that it already has a $15 million gross revenue run rate and is growing at 25% month-on-month. Livspace is also investing $30 million to grow its business in Singapore – drive demand, hire talent, build design experience centres and develop a regional supply chain. “Over the next 30 months, we aim to build Livspace into a US$500 million business operating across APAC and solve the renovation problem for tens of thousands of homeowners. Singapore marks the first step in our APAC growth and will serve as the headquarters for our global expansion,” said Livspace’s CEO and Co-Founder, Anuj Srivastava. It has also brought ex-Mckinsey and Grab executive Ravindran Shanmugam on board as the country head of Singapore. In India, the company claims to have an 80% market share and works with 3,500 registered designers and has designed 20,000 homes. In May 2019, Livspace had raised funding from Ingka Group – a key franchise partner of Swedish furniture giant, IKEA. The Ingka Group owns and operates 367 IKEA stores contributing to 90% of IKEA’s total retail sales. In September 2018, Livspace raised $70 million in a Series C round funding from TPG Growth and Goldman Sachs, along with its existing investors Jungle Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and Helion Ventures.

Home interiors startup Livspace enters Singapore, aims for a $500 million business in 2.5 years

<ul><li><keyword id="2644491" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="LivSpace">Livspace</keyword> has raised <keyword id="6357455" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> from Ingka Group – a franchise partner of <keyword id="6371031" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="IKEA">IKEA</keyword>. </li><li>The Ingka Group owns and operates 367 IKEA stores – including <keyword id="6429663" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ikea-india">IKEA India</keyword>.</li><li>Livspace had last raised $70 million in a series C round in September 2018.</li></ul>Indian home design and renovation startup Livspace has raised funding from Ingka Group – a key franchise partner of Swedish furniture giant, IKEA. The Ingka Group which owns and operates 367 IKEA stores contributing to 90% of IKEA’s total retail sales --- made a minority investment in Livspace, today. The details of this deal are yet unknown. “This minority investment aligns closely with the digital direction of Ingka Group and our core business, IKEA Retail,” said Krister Mattsson, Head of Ingka Investments, Ingka Group. In September 2018, Livspace raised $70 million in a Series C round funding from TPG Growth and Goldman Sachs, along with its existing investors Jungle Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and Helion Ventures. Livspace, launched in 2015, brings together homeowners and designers and vendors, to ease home design with streamlined communication. “We look forward to the immense collaboration possibilities in areas such as catalogue and marketplace integration, retail technology, and online-to-offline innovations,” said Anuj Srivastava, co-founder and CEO of Livspace. This fresh funding will help the startup develop more products and take them to newer markets. The Ingkar Group also runs the single store in India at Hyderabad – which launched in August 2018 amidst much fanfare. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/pepperfry-partners-with-bankbazaar-to-offer-loans/articleshow/69116169.cms">Pepperfry and Bankbazaar are now offering loans to refurbish homes</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/after-amazon-pepperfry-launches-wedding-gift-registry-on-its-platform/articleshow/68171208.cms">Indian e-tailers want you to choose the presents that your friends will pay for</a>

IKEA's India partner invests in a home design startup that may in turn serve the Swedish retailer

How would you feel if your company allows you to get your pet at work, or what if they organize a cake-fight for all the employees in the office itself? 
 
Sounds fun right? This is what <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Indian+startups">Indian startups</a> are currently doing to make their employees imagine more and brainstorm for innovative ideas. What else? On-demand service company, UrbanClap has specially formed a team of four members to organise<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/The-25-Most-Creative-Companies-In-The-World/articleshow/26221035.cms"> fun activities for the employees</a>. 
 
As reported by The Economic Times, startups like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=TinyOwl">TinyOwl</a>, LivSpace, DogSpot, Junglee Games and Intellipaat belong to a separate generation of startups with a goal of having greater work engagement and more <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/12-Weird-Things-That-Tech-Companies-Do-To-Make-Their-Employees-More-Creative/articleshow/21096431.cms">out-of-the box ideas</a> that help the startups stand out. 
 
This new breed of startups, fuelled by liberal doses of funding, is basically designing a work culture that emphasizes on creative thinking and collaboration among different departments, which doesn’t happen on a daily basis. To do this, they provide a plethora of activities including health and wellness sessions, team outings, hobby classes, provisions for indoor games, movies, book clubs and much more. 
 
Suresh Bhagavatula, assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore says, "I have a feeling it's a function of boom time. 
 
In a boom time there is a lot of exuberance and positive thoughts or energy around; then people may want to invest in all this. If there is a recession, all this will become much more serious—it's a reflection of what is out there in the economy." 
 "China is not doing too well and I am sure Chinese startups won't be doing the same thing <keyword id="982553" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-startups">Indian startups</keyword> are currently doing," Bhagavatula added. 
 
Bhagavatula, personally, isn’t much convinced with the idea of workplace fun. Bringing in light the other side he says, "It needs to be studied in greater detail than to just say that cool culture leads to better work. There has not been much research done to see whether it is actually a distraction. I assume so at some point it will become." 
 
Recently, DogSpot, a four-year-old pet supply store, has allowed its employees to bring their pets along at work. As per the company’s co-founder Rana Atheya, “it helped fill gaps in inter-department communication.” 
 
For gaming company Junglee Games, one of its periodic poker nights led to the creation of a new variant of the popular three-card game 'teen-patti', called Royal Teen Patti, which has attracted almost 2 million users. 
 
Not just this, but LivSpace, a home design and decor platform held a 48-hour design hackathon that included beer and pizza in the office. The designers were presented 1,000 photographs and design software and "we asked them to create beautiful imagery," said co-founder and CEO, Anuj Srivastava. The company revamped its website with these images, and has been attracting at least 10,000 page visitors since June, from about 3,000 earlier. 
 
"Designers haven't worked in the crazy internet world. They come from partner-driven firms where the culture's different, where owners are God. They take calls from them and here we ask for ideas," said Srivastava 
 
Anand Lunia, founder of seed-stage venture fund IndiaQuotient and also an investor in DogSpot however says, "Startups have realised (that) in their world it's not the number of people but amount of efficiency and effectiveness of each employee (that matters). This needs an environment that is conducive. Ordinary people have to perform extraordinary tasks and have to go beyond their past results." 
 
Even so, investors, too, are beginning to ask entrepreneurs about how they plan to build their startup's work culture, although this is not a prerequisite to signing a cheque. "Smart, experienced investors understand that apart from numbers and metrics it's important to build an organisation, especially at a time where companies are growing fast," said Varun Khaitan, co-founder of UrbanClap, which is backed by SAIF Partners, Accel Partners and Snapdeal co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal. 
 
But the litmus test will be when the chips are down, said entrepreneur-turned-investor Ronnie Screwvala. "If you are 15 days late with salary, will it make a difference if you have a dart board in the office, are eating 'pani puri' on Wednesdays or going to the pub on Fridays? I don't think so," said Screwvala. 
 
"No one has gone through that right now, because they are still in their multiple funding rounds," he added. 
 
Image: thinkstock

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Home decor company Livspace lays off 100 employees

IANS

Livspace earmarks $100 mn to invest in D2C brands in home segment

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This Startup is changing the way people dream of living

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Reliance investor KKR, Ikea and others turn Livspace into a unicorn

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Startup Livspace lays off 450 employees on adverse business impact from COVID-19

PTI

Home decor firm Livspace lays off 450 employees

IANS

Sunil Kataria elected as the Chairman of The Indian Society of Advertisers for the sixth consecutive term

BI India Partner

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