IIT-Bombay blacklists 9 startup cos for revoking, delaying placement offers

Mumbai: Premier tech school IIT Bombay today blacklisted nine companies including startups like Portea Medical and Chinese firm Johnson Electric from placements for one year as a penalty for a variety of violations like, revoking the offers to some of its graduates.  The action follows a controversy over a host of companies, majorly startups finding the going tough, either revoking the offer letters or delaying joining dates which have impacted students. Online pharmacy player Portea, which has reportedly raised $46.5 million in two rounds, has been blacklisted for one year for revoking an offer, the school said in an official statement. Similarly, the NCR-based Peppertap that was into grocery sales, has also been penalised for revoking offers. Johnson Electric of China has also been penalised for revoking offers. Others who faced action for revoking offers include GPSK and Cashcare Technologies, the statement said. For delaying the joining dates of the selected candidates, consulting companies IndusInsight, and the Houston-based American company LexInnova have been barred from placements for a year, it said. A company named LeGarde Burnett Group was also blacklisted for both revoking an offer and after it was found “fake” with no proper office address, it said. Another company Mera Hunar was found to have come up with a different name and hired students for another startup, which attracted the penal action of one year. It can be noted that since IITs have a centralised placement panel called the All IITs Placement Committee and in all likelihood, the action by IIT-Bombay will automatically bar the startups from approaching any of the IITs in the country for placements next year.