Chennai-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider Chargebee has laid off 10 per cent of its workforce. Citing factors like "operational debt" and "external marketing factors", the start-up handed pink slips to 140 employees. The terminated employees will receive three months of pay, three months of extended medical benefits and outplacement career services, which may help them to find new opportunities. 

“While we are positioned well for the future in the long term given our market opportunity and financial position, we are in the unfortunate situation where we have to make corrections to our scale and structure to build a more efficient, stronger organization for the future,” co-founder Krish Subramanian said in a Linkedin post.

He also pointed fingers at the adverse macroeconomic conditions affecting public companies at the beginning of the second quarter. These conditions compelled the SaaS start-up to change its hiring plans, Subramanian added. 

With this decision, the organisation joins the league of growing Indian start-ups that have laid off their employees in a funding winter. 

Founded in 2011, the SaaS start-up provides subscription management and a recurring billing platform. It hopes to become a significant player in the global SaaS market, which is expected to be worth $700 billion by 2030. 

In February 2022, Chargebee raised $250 million at a valuation of $3.5 billion. The investment round witnessed the participation of investors like Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, Insight Partners, Sapphire and Steadview Capital.

The company achieved its unicorn status in April 2021 after completing a series G funding round of $125 million. Till date, Chargebee raised $468.2 million from 8 rounds of funding.