Inc42 Reports Zupee Laid Off Its Entire Workforce After an October 16 AI Pivot

Zupee laid off its entire workforce around its October 16 announcement that it was leaving gaming for AI ventures, Inc42 reported on November 12. Zupee did not respond to Inc42's request for comment.

Inc42 attributes the claim that the AI plan was cover for a wind-down to its own sources and names none. We could not verify it independently, so it is Inc42's reporting, not ours.

What Inc42 reports

Inc42's reporter, Debarghya Sil, writes that Zupee shut NeoAstro, its astrology platform, and Zupee Studio, its microdrama venture, in an October restructuring. Apart from three or four people working with the founders, no employees remain, Inc42 says. Severance runs through January 2027.

The headcount history is staged. About 170 people were cut first, then about 200 roughly ten months before October, and then the rest. At its peak the company had close to 500 employees.

Inc42 also says Zupee had been in advanced talks to buy the microdrama startup Vertical TV, and the deal fell through. It could not establish why, and it could not confirm the company's remaining cash, assets or liabilities.

The photograph is a generic Ludo game, not a Zupee product or event.

A user count that moved

The October announcement said Zupee would build AI products on its experience of serving "over 200 Mn users," a figure Inc42 describes as claimed. In August 2025, Storyboard18 quoted a company spokesperson citing 150+ million users when Zupee ended real-money gaming after India's online gaming bill passed.

That is 50 million more in about 14 months, for a company that had stopped paid games in between and shed staff. Neither outlet explains how the count is made.

The money behind it

Storyboard18 says Zupee, run by Cashgrail Private Limited, raised $122 million across five rounds. Its Series B in January 2022 raised $72 million at a valuation of ₹4,900 crore. Headcount stood at 466 in May 2025. Inc42 puts total funding at over $120 million, from investors including Z47, Orios Venture Partners, Nepean Capital, WestCap Group, Tomales Bay Capital and AJ Capital.

1. Peak (close to)500 employees
2. May 2025466 employees

Source: Inc42 (peak, approximate), Storyboard18 (May 2025), accessed 2026-11-12

Item	Figure	Source
Total raised	$122 million, five rounds	Storyboard18
Series B (January 2022)	$72 million at ₹4,900 crore	Storyboard18
Users claimed, August 2025	150+ million	Storyboard18
Users claimed, October 2026	Over 200 million	Inc42

For other Indian startups reporting results this quarter, see Ola Electric and RentoMojo.

Inc42 contacted Z47 Partners and Nepean Capital about the shutdown and whether liquidation was being discussed. Neither responded. The open question is whether Zupee files for liquidation or publishes any account of what remains of its cash.