As late stage funding agreements dwindle, used car marketplace Cars24, which raised over $850 million last year, is shifting gears to minimize costs through a number of actions.

To extend its runway and readjust to a more moderate rate of growth, the SoftBank and Alpha Wave Global-backed company wants to reduce its burn rate by about 50 percent. To do this, it must first put an end to its aggressive international expansion plans in countries like the UAE, the Middle East, Thailand, and Australia.

The Gurgaon-based company's burn rate, or monthly cash outlays, was over $20 million, and it now aims to lower that to roughly $10 million.

With the exception of the national capital region, it has closed the majority of its offline locations nationwide (NCR). The decision to close offline centres was made last year, but it has been put into practice all year.

Cars24 just cut at least 700 workers. This figure is higher than the 600 that were originally reported. Additionally, it has halted efforts to fill open positions within the business.

The company's decreasing spending across all operations is a sign of larger stress in the used-car market both in India and internationally, where US-based Caravana's shares recently dropped by around 90 percent.

The company will put a halt to its ambitious marketing and expansion efforts, even though it has no plans to leave any of its international markets. "Cars24 was heavily focusing on the international market, but that outlook has altered,". Even in India, the corporation considerably reduced its marketing expenditures, and the internal employees were informed of the shift in approach.

Customers will now pay payment gateway costs for expensive car purchases, among other adjustments made by the corporation.

These actions taken by Cars24, a firm that rose to prominence as one of the top ones over the last two years, highlight the current perception among startup founders and investors that the funding slowdown may worsen in the second half of the year before a recovery starts.

Cars24 finished a $400 million investment round, including debt, in December of last year, increasing its worth to $3.3 billion.

"Market realities must be adjusted for. The expectation on growth is moderate compared to past expectations of, say, tripling growth, as they (Cars24) seek to limit burn.