SaaS startup Skit.ai sacks 115 employees

• ByStartupStory     |    January 13, 2023

Skit.ai, a Bengaluru-based SaaS voice automation startup, laid off around 115 employees on Thursday. However, as per sources the number could be as high as 130.

Skit.ai CEO and cofounder Sourabh Gupta announced the layoff during a town hall meeting. The startup has an employee count of 335, as per its Linkedin page. 

As per sources, the roles impacted by the layoffs are Business analyst, software engineering, product, operations, SPM, and CSM. As the startup is now focusing on US market, the laid off employees are generally form the Indian team

According to one source, the startup was unable to generate enough revenue from the small businesses it served in India. Going forward, it will only serve existing large customers in India, such as banks, insurance companies, and aviation companies. Meanwhile, it has decided to increase its focus on the US market.

According to the documents reviewed by Inc42, the startup has offered two months’ salary as a severance package to the laid-off employees and will extend their insurance coverage for the next six months. Employees who have been affected have also been allowed to keep office assets such as laptops and iPads.

According to sources, Gupta said, “We have always had a team-first philosophy at Skit.ai. While the restructuring was unavoidable, well being of our ex-employees is important to us. Our priority right now is to support them in this transition and we are fully committed to that. We are grateful to everyone who has contributed to building the company. Over the last few quarters, we are seeing significant growth in the US with an increasing customer base. Our future team requirements are according to that. We have also secured investor support for US expansion.”

Skit.ai was launched in 2016 by Gupta, and Akshay Deshraj. It provides SaaS voice automation solutions to help businesses automate their call centre operations. 

The startup, formerly known as Vernacular.ai, claims that its product can respond to over 16 languages, covering over 160 dialects and simulating human-like conversations. However, the company is currently focusing on call centre automation in the United States. 

In other news, Skit.ai has raised around $30 Mn in multiple funding rounds till date.

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