Another startup in the spotlight for the wrong reasons, social commerce platform Trell is reportedly laying off half of its workforce as it finds itself embroiled in an investigation over alleged financial irregularities.
The Mass Lay Off
Reports indicate Trell is set to lay off 300-400 employees. It currently has 700 employees out of which 500 are permanent as per reports. The probe into the startup's books has stalled Trell's existing $100 million funding round, for which it had been in talks with Amazon.
The Investigation
Trell founders - Pulkit Agrawal, Bimal Kartheek Rebba, and Arun Lodhi are being investigated by the forensic team of EY India for alleged party related transactions and as per ET an interim report has been submitted.
What is Trell
Trell pivoted itself from a community-based platform to a lifestyle-centric short video app and then entered into video commerce model in mid-2021. The company allows users to create videos of their travel and local experiences and share them as a classic slideshow or copyrighted images on other platforms. It monetises its platform via social commerce.