Layoffs, fake invoices and mounting debt: Can WayCool bounce back?

In Bengaluru, a young man struggles with the mental toll of unpaid dues worth lakhs from his former employer. In the same city, a former warehouse manager recalls feeling helpless as his colleagues manipulated invoice numbers after missing their salaries due to unmet sales targets. In Chikmagalur, a pepper trader recounts how his payment was cleared only after multiple trips to Chennai—an ordeal that also hurt his CIBIL score.

The common thread in their troubles? Agritech supply chain startup WayCool.

Ever since India’s agritech boom—funding peaked in FY21 with $895 million poured in by VCs—WayCool was set to disrupt the sector by eliminating middlemen and maximising farmer profits. In early 2023, the eight-year-old startup hit a $750 million valuation post a $41 million Series D funding round led by Lightrock India, with participation from LightBox and Alteria Capital, among others. At the time, people tracking the sector even prophesied that Chennai-based WayCool could go on to become India’s first agritech unicorn. Investors rejoiced and the ecosystem celebrated them.

But all that was short-lived.

In July 2023, four months after its blockbuster funding round, WayCool laid off ~300 employees, followed by multiple such rounds. According to startup intelligence platform Tracxn, WayCool's workforce has shrunk from 2,300 in September 2022 to 533 now. On top of this, many present and past employees have levelled allegations of pending salaries. Vendors have taken to multiple platforms to call the company out for delayed payments. To make matters worse, two former employees have even alleged fake invoicing and fake orders taking place in the company warehouses.

Amid all this, WayCool, too, exited multiple businesses, tried various pivots, while raising around $25 million in debt in FY25. Add to that, its co-founder Sanjay Dasari stepped down from an operational role in December 2024. Waycool's last reported financials (FY23) show that losses widened by 117%, even though its operating revenue rose 62% to Rs 1,251.4 crore in FY23 from Rs 772.3 in FY22. Between FY22 and FY23. the startups total expenses shot up 96% to Rs 3,856.9 crore. (WayCool is also yet to file its FY24 financials.)