Almost 300 startups have now laid off nearly 30,000 employees since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Below are a few notable layoffs from this past week. You can check our tracker for a more comprehensive report. As always, if you’ve seen a layoff spreadsheet for any of these companies, please let us know!
🏢 Magic Leap ∙ 🌎 Miami ∙ 👩 1,000 employees (50%) ∙ 🔗Source
- One of the most prominent augmented reality startups, Magic Leap decided to abandon its consumer business and instead focus on enterprise use cases. Despite raising over $2 billion in funding, the company has found it challenging to release a mainstream product or generate meaningful revenue.
🏢 Lending Club ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 460 employees (30%) ∙ 🔗Source
- An online lender, Lending Club said its layoff was the result of tightening credit markets and a drop in demand for personal loans, the company’s flagship product.
🏢 Houzz ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 155 employees (10%) ∙ 🔗Source
- An online platform for home remodeling, Houzz said that social distancing measures has led to lower demand for its pro subscriptions, which connect home remodeling professionals with potential customers. Houzz is providing laid-off employees with severance packages based on tenure and 3 months of benefits.
🏢 CarGurus ∙ 🌎 Boston ∙ 👩 130 employees (13%) ∙ 🔗Source
- A marketplace for cars, CarGurus said that dealers have been forced to close due to stay-at-home orders, “effectively pausing vehicle sales.”
🏢 Greenhouse Software ∙ 🌎 New York City ∙ 👩 120 employees (28%) ∙ 🔗Source
- A maker of applicant tracking software, Greenhouse is the latest recruiting startup to conduct a layoff. Competitor Lever laid off 86 employees (40%) a week before. Greenhouse is offering laid-off employees 8 weeks of severance and 8 months of healthcare.
🏢 ConsenSys ∙ 🌎 New York City ∙ 👩 91 employees (14%) ∙ 🔗Source
- An incubator of Ethereum projects, ConsenSys cited the coronavirus pandemic as the cause of its layoff. However, the company did not elaborate on exactly how the pandemic has affected its business.
🏢 Casper ∙ 🌎 New York City ∙ 👩 78 employees (21%) ∙ 🔗Source
- A direct-to-consumer mattress startup, Casper also decided to close its European operations. The company hopes the job cuts will help it achieve profitability by mid-2021. One laid-off employee said, “though I am unsure what tomorrow holds, I do know that before tomorrow must come a good night’s sleep.”
🏢 Freshbooks ∙ 🌎 Toronto ∙ 👩 38 employees (9%) ∙ 🔗Source
- An accounting software company, Freshbooks said its small business customers have been affected by the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus. Freshbooks was planning to raise additional capital before COVID-19, suggesting that one motivation for the layoff was to extend the company’s cash runway.
🏢 Sweetgreen ∙ 🌎 Los Angeles ∙ 👩 35 employees (10%) ∙ 🔗Source
- A fast casual salad chain, Sweetgreen’s business has plummeted because of shelter-in-place. An employee said that app order volume has fallen by 2/3. Sweetgreen raised $150 million in funding last year, becoming possibly the only salad restaurant ever to raise venture capital.
🏢 Patreon ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 30 employees (13%) ∙ 🔗Source
- Patreon, which enables artists and creators to accept money from their fans, said that the layoff was caused by “several other factors beyond the financial ones.” It cited a recent performance review cycle and a new company strategy, in addition to the current economic uncertainty.
🏢 People.ai ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 30 employees (18%) ∙ 🔗Source
- A maker of predictive sales software, People.ai denied that the coronavirus pandemic has had any negative effect on its business. It said the layoff was simply to protect against future uncertainty. As would be expected of a sales startup, People.ai also listed multiple examples of how the company is in an extremely strong position.
🏢 Lambda School ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 19 employees ∙ 🔗Source
- A training program for aspiring software engineers, Lambda School said the layoff was meant to reflect a shift in priority away from growth and towards student experience. The startup has recently received criticism for the quality of its program and for engaging in misleading marketing.