B2B-Tech

Smartstaff had the money, the founders, the investors. And it still wasn’t enough

Shivani Verma

November 26, 2025 | 10 Min Read

The Bengaluru startup promised to transform how factories and delivery platforms hire workers. Today it’s discovering why traditional contractors with notebooks and employee referral programmes still run the market.

Four years ago, Arpit Dave and his three co-founders had a vision. They would take India’s vast army of factory workers and delivery riders out of the shadows and into the digital age. Their startup, Smartstaff, would be the bridge.

Today, depending on who you talk to, that bridge is either narrowing or burning.

From a peak of nearly 200 employees, Smartstaff now operates with fewer than 10 people, according to multiple former executives who spoke to The CapTable on condition of anonymity. The company has not confirmed this figure.

Corporate

Access unlimited content at a special discounted rate. Trusted by top VC’s and leading organizations, we provide bulk subscriptions for groups of 30+. Contact us for more details

Campus

Top educational institutions have collaborated with us for campus-wide subscriptions. For bulk campus-wide access, please get in touch.

Got a tip? If you have a lead we should be chasing at The CapTable, write to us at tips@the-captable.com

Join our community of 100,000+ top executives, VCs, entrepreneurs, and brightest student minds

Trusted by the best

Karthik Reddy

Blume Ventures

The CapTable brings a refreshing set of insights for us at the Blume team, highlighting stories that bring together the underlying business and founders with that of investors' journeys with these startups. It's an important perspective that very few bring to startup ecosystem enthusiasts.

Latest Articles

India’s new luxury playbook: Homes as hard assets, handbags as portable wealth

India’s luxury market in 2025 shifted from aspiration to asset allocation. Ultra-HNIs are buying scarcity-driven luxury homes for permanence and designer handbags for liquidity, treating both as hard assets that hedge volatility, preserve value, and diversify wealth beyond traditional markets.

Sohini Mitter

How to claim mutual fund investments of a deceased family member

While the process is largely straightforward, lining up the required documents can be tricky, especially if the deceased had not named a nominee.

Maulik M

When the side bet becomes the main game: How Thyrocare went from PharmEasy’s big gamble to its lifeline

Four years after PharmEasy’s debt-heavy acquisition shocked India’s startup world, the diagnostics chain has become the troubled e-pharmacy’s profit engine, with its CEO now running the whole show

Shivani Verma

When India needs ideas, climate capital plays it safe

Seed funding for climate-tech startups has collapsed even as late-stage deals surge. India’s investors are backing proven winners while the next generation of innovators runs out of air.

Sai Keerthi

Yusuf Bhai and his ilk will make you smell like a millionaire. But will it last?

In India’s fast-growing perfume trade, street chemists, social-media stars and ambitious entrepreneurs are bottling aspiration for a fraction of the price, challenging global luxury houses and redefining what it means to smell successful.

Team Captable

Convinced that The Captable stories and insights
will give you the edge?

Convinced that The Captable stories
and insights will give you the edge?

Subscribe Now

Stories

Explore