Indiabulls' Meesho-style app Yaari laid off 60% of staff within a year of launch

Listed Indiabulls group entity (real estate and housing finance heritage) that launched the Yaari social commerce marketplace in March 2021.

That an Indiabulls-backed reseller marketplace — people selling curated products over WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram — could outflank Meesho without matching its burn.

No external round disclosed; funded by listed parent Indiabulls. FY22 expenses ran INR 361.9 crore against INR 160.5 crore of operating revenue.

Indiabulls Integrated Services renamed itself Yaari Digital and launched the Yaari app in March 2021, telling the BSE it would let resellers sell among social contacts. It hired from Meesho — 'the app was supposed to work like Meesho', one ex-employee told Inc42 — under ex-Indiabulls Real Estate CMO Kubeir Khera.

Late 2021 it pivoted from B2B reselling to B2C with a nationwide sale pricing everything at INR 9-199. First-time customers came, but most orders were never delivered — the company lacked funds to pay suppliers and logistics providers — and customers took to social media to bash the app. Vendor payments were pending. FY22 closed with INR 173.8 crore of losses; meanwhile Meta-backed Meesho had pivoted B2C and laid off ~150, and Sequoia-backed Trell let go of hundreds.

In late April 2022 staff were told to resign to receive April salaries; about 150 employees — roughly 60% of 250-300 — were laid off across supply, support, BD and marketing, with no severance or extended health benefits. The app displayed 'server is down for maintenance'; Inc42 reported the tech team absorbed by Dhani and a merger expected, though the company never confirmed.

Meesho pivoted B2C in mid-2021 and Trell laid off hundreds — the social commerce category was consolidating around funded players.

The INR 9-199 sale bought order volume without the working capital to fulfil it.

Management pushed growth numbers over long-term vision, per employees who left.

Indiabulls' real estate and housing finance DNA offered no supply-chain depth to fall back on.

Cloning a funded category leader without matching capital turns a price war into a service failure: unfulfilled orders don't just lose customers, they torch the reseller network.

As of 31 May 2022, the app showed 'server is down for maintenance', its Instagram had been silent for eight weeks, shares traded at INR 36.6 on the BSE, and a detailed questionnaire from Inc42 to Yaari Digital and Indiabulls had gone unanswered; laid-off staff were still waiting on May salaries and, in some cases, relieving letters.