Trell is Experiencing an Employee Exodus as it Struggles to Pay its Influencers

A platform for lifestyle social commerce Trell has experienced another wave of employee exodus as the company struggles to pay creators in the country. At least 100 more employees have left the video commerce platform as several creators and influencers await payment, according to sources on Monday. Trell's Instagram community page was flooded with complaints from creators requesting that the company clear their pending payments.

"How about you clear your creators' pending payments?" one affected creator wrote. Others claim Trell is paying popular creators with large fan bases while ignoring small influencers. The platform recently asked more than 300 employees to leave due to "firm-wide right-sizing." Trell was investigated in April by an EY India forensic team for financial irregularities following allegations that its founders stole money.

The audit firm's review of the company last month revealed serious financial irregularities. EY India's forensic team investigated the founders, Pulkit Agrawal, Bimal Kartheek Rebba, and Arun Lodhi. Trell's $100 million funding round was also halted as a result of the allegations. In July last year, Trell raised $45 million in a Series B round led by financial group Mirae Asset, H&M Group and co-led by LB Investments. With the closing of the Series B round, Trell had raised $62 million.