After Treebo had offered 400 employees in India voluntary retirement in exchange for a month’s salary, fellow hotel chain Oyo Rooms has also announced measures to grapple with the coronavirus downturn. Oyo has said that it’ll place an undisclosed number of employees on temporary leaves of absence for a minimum of 60 to 90 days. The decision will largely affect employees working in the United States and “select other markets”, it said in an official statement….

Softbank isn’t only battling a global slowdown, a portfolio of companies that’s thought to be particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus outbreak, and big bets that haven’t quite played out — it’s now being sued by what was once the crown jewel of its portfolio. A special committee of WeWork’s board is suing SoftBank after SoftBank withdrew its $3 billion tender offer for the company. WeWork is claiming that SoftBank breached its obligations under their agreement. Softbank…

Startups across sectors are expected to suffer from the impact of the coronavirus lockdown, and hospitality startups are expected to be particularly hard hit. And hospitality startups in India are already showing the strain. Budget hotels chain Treebo has launched a paid voluntary resignation scheme (PVRS) for 400 of its employees, ET reports. After a townhall with its co founders, Sidharth Gupta and Rahul Chaudhary, Treebo’s HR department sent an email to its employees which painted a grim picture…

The coronavirus lockdown has virtually shuttered many businesses in India — but some are coming up with interesting ways to keep operating. Uber has tied up with Spencer’s Retail, Big Basket and Flipkart for last-mile delivery of essentials during the coronavirus lockdown. Uber has partnered with Flipkart in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore, and will eventually extend the program to other cities. “Flipkart being a leading e-commerce player with a dedicated customer base, this service will help…

Even as India is nearly halfway into the lockdown, the business impact of the coronavirus is slowly becoming clear. Zomato and Swiggy’s orders are down nearly 70 percent during the coronavirus lockdown, ET reports. “From a steady state of 2.5 million deliveries a day, today we are at sub 1 million orders which are marginally inching up,” said an investor in the food delivery space. Even before the lockdown, food delivery volumes were falling, perhaps from…

The impact of the coronavirus epidemic is already beginning to be felt across startups and companies.  Oyo Rooms has suspended payments to hotels claiming that the Covid-19 pandemic has been severely impacting its business. Under Oyo’s benchmark revenue arrangement, or the minimum guarantee model, owners are paid a minimum amount regardless of the business generated.  But with hotel bookings plummeting amidst the coronavirus outbreak, Oyo has said it’ll not pay the minimum amount to hotel owners…

India’s coronavirus lockdown isn’t even over, but the impact on startups from the lack of business is already being seen.  Startups have begun giving employees pay cuts and laying off people as they attempt to realign with a world where their business might be impacted, and fundraising might be challenging. On-demand scooter rental startup Bounce said that it was cutting employee salaries by 20-60 percent. “We have announced salary cuts across the org other than those…

The world of business is unpredictable, and that’s becoming more apparent than ever during the coronavirus epidemic. Video chat startup Zoom, which had been founded just nine years ago, is now worth more than the top three US airlines combined. Zoom, which had gone public only last year, currently has a market cap of $42 billion. The top three American airline companies by market cap currently are Southwest Airlines, which has a market cap of $18 billion; Delta Airlines,…

Even as startups and businesses are suffering during the nationwide lockdown amid the coronavirus, some companies are thinking about their most vulnerable partners during the crisis. Ola has said that it’s creating a fund for its drivers that were impacted by the coronavirus shutdown. “Millions of drivers & their families find themselves without an income today. To support them, we are launching the ‘Drive the Driver’ fund,” said Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal. He started things…