Osegi
Startups·2 min read

Zupee shutdown: Ludo app lays off all staff weeks after AI pivot

Zupee, the Ludo game startup that raised about $120 million, has reportedly laid off nearly everyone, just weeks after announcing it was becoming an AI company.

A smartphone showing a Ludo board game, with an empty office desk in the background.
Image: Inc42 Media
SUMODialoediviewergiftdetect

Zupee, the Indian startup behind mobile Ludo, has reportedly laid off its entire workforce and is close to shutting down. That comes only weeks after it told the world it was pivoting to AI.

According to sources, the final round of layoffs landed at the same time as the public announcement on October 16. That day, Zupee said it was leaving gaming and would build AI-led ventures, using its experience with more than 200 million users to make products for Indian consumers. It never said what those products would be. One source put it bluntly: "There was no AI plan. It was a damage control exercise." Only three or four people are said to remain, working with the founders. Employees reportedly got severance covering the period until January 2027. Zupee did not respond to a request for comment.

The October cuts were not the first. Zupee let go around 200 people ten months earlier and about 170 before that. At its peak it had close to 500 employees. It has also shut down NeoAstro, its astrology platform, and Zupee Studio, its microdrama (short vertical-video series) arm. A planned acquisition of microdrama startup Vertical TV fell through too, for reasons that are unclear.

What happens to Zupee's $120 million?

Zupee was founded in 2018 by Dilsher Singh Malhi and Siddhant Saurabh. It built mobile versions of traditional Indian games such as Ludo, Snakes and Ladders and Carrom. Over the years it raised more than $120 million from investors including Z47, Orios Venture Partners, Nepean Capital, WestCap Group, Tomales Bay Capital and AJ Capital.

Nobody has said how much of that money is left, or what debts the company still carries. Investors including Z47 Partners and Nepean Capital were asked whether they knew about the shutdown, whether the AI pivot was pitched to them as real strategy, and whether they could recover unused capital. None replied. Whether management has started talks on liquidation is also unanswered.

Apps worth a look

SUMO: the number puzzle

Tap the right tiles, add them up, hit the target. Easy to learn, hard to master. Free, for all ages.

Tags:zupeelayoffsai pivotindian startupsludogaming

More from this day

See all →

More in: Startups

See all →