Happay, a subsidiary of CRED, has laid off over 30% of its employees

Happay, a CRED subsidiary, laid off over 30% of its staff

Expense management company Happay has laid off over 30% of its employees. The company was acquired by CRED in December 2021 through a cash and equity transaction worth around $180 million. Happay had raised a total of $22 million to $25 million in funding, with a valuation of around $60 million in its extended Series B funding round in 2019. Happay provides expense management for businesses, managing employee travel and tax benefits. It offers specialized solutions for large companies with multiple branch offices and ground logistics companies. The Bangalore-based company claims to serve 6,000 customers across all vertical industries. In September 2022, Happay launched its world travel card to enter the travel card market. The product allows employers to configure physical cards for online, POS, and ATM channels. Prior to the acquisition, Happay’s revenue in the fiscal year 2021 was INR 48.89 billion, while in 2020 it was INR 37.55 billion. The company has managed to reduce its losses from INR 49.2 billion in 2020 to INR 21.7 billion. The company has not yet released its financial data for the fiscal year 2022. In addition to Happay, CRED has also acquired HipBar, CreditVidya, and a minority stake in LiquiLoans in the fiscal year 2022, leading to an increase in expenses for Kunal Shah-led company until March 31, 2023. On the other hand, CRED’s revenue in fiscal year 2022 increased by 4.4 times to INR 39.36 billion, while its losses more than doubled to INR 12.796 billion in the 2021-22 fiscal year. As growth-stage and late-stage companies find it difficult to raise new funds, layoffs have become the norm across the entire startup ecosystem. Investors have warned about the funding winter in their portfolios and demanded cost-cutting measures to extend the survival of their companies. According to data compiled by Fintrackr, more than 50 startups have laid off over 8,000 employees in the past year. In 2022, the number of layoffs exceeded 20,000.

The cost management industry in India refers to the field of personal and corporate expense management, financial planning, and expenditure control. With the expansion of India’s middle class and changes in consumer habits, personal expense management has become an important issue. Many consumers are increasingly focused on personal financial planning, budget control, and expenditure management. To meet this demand, many online platforms and mobile applications have emerged to help individuals track and manage their expenses, develop budgets, optimize savings and investment plans, and more. Corporate expense management is an important aspect of business management. Companies need to manage and control various expenses, including employee salaries, travel expenses, procurement costs, equipment maintenance, and more. India’s corporate expense management industry covers a variety of solutions, including expense reimbursement systems, financial management software, procurement management tools, and more, helping companies achieve cost control and savings.

India’s cost management industry benefits from the rapid development and popularization of technology. Many online platforms and mobile applications use technologies such as cloud computing, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence to provide intelligent expense management solutions. These solutions can automate expense tracking and reimbursement processes, generate detailed expense reports and analysis, provide real-time expenditure data, and more, helping individuals and companies better manage their expenses. The Indian government has taken a series of policy measures to promote digital payments and financial transparency. For example, it has launched digital payment platforms such as India’s Real-Time Settlement System (IMPS), Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and India’s Instant Payment (BHIM), encouraging people to use electronic payment tools for transactions. These policies have promoted the development of the expense management industry and encouraged the popularization of digital payments and automated reimbursement.

India’s expense management industry has enormous growth potential. With the growth of the Indian economy, the expansion of the middle class, and the increasing focus on personal and corporate financial management, the industry is expected to continue to develop rapidly. At the same time, the continuous advancement and popularization of digital technology also provide more growth and market opportunities for the industry. As more and more individuals and companies become aware of the importance of expense management and seek more effective solutions, India’s expense management industry will see more innovation and competition. However, the industry also faces some challenges. One of them is the issue of penetration and acceptance. Despite government promotion and support for digital payments and online expense management tools, there is still a portion of the population who are unfamiliar with or distrustful of digital payments and online management tools. Education and publicity efforts still need to be strengthened to increase consumer and corporate awareness and trust in these tools. Another challenge is security and data privacy issues. As individuals and companies manage expenses on online platforms, their sensitive financial data faces security risks. Protecting the security and privacy of user data has become one of the industry’s important tasks. Online platforms and service providers need to adopt effective security measures and privacy protection measures to ensure that user data is not leaked or abused. Overall, India’s expense management industry is in a rapid development stage, providing better expense management and financial planning tools for individuals and businesses. With the advancement of technology, government support, and increasing user demand, the industry is expected to continue to flourish and make greater innovations and progress in the coming years.

• [Popular] Why is your German WEEE still not being cancelled?
• Data Report | Over the past two years, App Store’s revenue for small developers has increased by 71%
• Over several thousand Chinese sellers have been complained about infringement, because they have used this common name ‘Frisbee’

We will continue to update BusinessDialogue; if you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us!