Trell employees look for new avenues after EY found financial irregularities by the founders

An audit by EY last week found financial irregularities by the founders. This pulled the plug on funding plans, pushing the company to cut costs and lay off employees.

"We are preparing just in case by putting out feelers and being open for work. There is no clarity as to how much or who the specific individuals are who have been laid off. The general feeling is that most likely, we have been laid off," says a Trell employee, a sentiment that reflects the general mood at the lifestyle media company amid news of layoffs and financial irregularities by its founders.

A number of employees are already serving out their notice period and others are actively looking out for jobs.

What happened?

Trell was founded in 2016 by Pulkit Agrawal, Arun Lodhi, Prashant Sachan and Bimal Kartheek Rebba as a community-based social network to discuss and exchange lifestyle trends. It pivoted to an influencer-led social commerce platform in 2021, entering the live commerce space where competition is heating up and the burn rate is high.

It was reported on January 27 that the company was in talks to raise $150 million from a clutch of investors that would value the company at $1 billion. The company's employee strength also grew over the last couple of years, from a couple of hundred to close to 800, according to a former Trell employee.

But an audit by EY last week found financial irregularities by the founders. This pulled the plug on funding plans, pushing the company to cut costs and lay off employees. The Economic Times first reported the audit by EY and Entrackr reported the news about Trell letting employees go.

According sources after the EY report submission, Trell is now awaiting Board's decision and would be looking at restructuring internally. The company is still in the process of working out the roles that it will do away with and is yet to initiate the layoffs. An employee agreed that while there is a sense within the workforce that layoffs are imminent, they are yet to get official confirmation. "A clarification is expected from the company by the end of this week," the employee added.

According to multiple sources, content developers and affiliate specialists in languages like Bengali and Tamil are likely the first targets, and many are already looking out.