Tag: Security

Layoffs Roundup: Thurs 10/22/20

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Below is a recap of tech layoff news from recent weeks. Check out the Layoffs.fyi Tracker for a complete list of all tech layoffs during the pandemic.

🏢 Quibi ∙ 🌎 Los Angeles ∙ 👩 100% of employees ∙ 🔗Source

  • Quibi, the short-form video streaming service started by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, is shutting down. Despite raising $1 billion in funding and launching with much fanfare six months ago, the service struggled to gain traction, signing up only 500,000 subscribers compared to its initial target of 7 million.

🏢 Chef ∙ 🌎 Seattle ∙ 🔗Source

  • An unspecified number of employees were laid off at DevOps startup Chef following its $220 million acquisition by Progress. Those affected include a portion of Chef’s engineering team in Seattle and other locations.

🏢 Getyourguide ∙ 🌎 Berlin ∙ 👩 90 employees (17%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • Berlin-based tourism startup Getyourguide laid off 90 employees due to the disruption of travel resulting from the global pandemic. The company offers a booking platform for sightseeing tours and other tourism activities.

Layoffs Roundup: Thurs 9/17/20

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Well, that was fast. Just six months after everyone was warning about a startup reckoning, tech is booming again — coronavirus be damned 🤷🏻‍♂️. 

The latest evidence? Using data from PitchBook and Layoffs.fyi, the Financial Times identified more than 20 startups that recently raised funding at higher valuations despite laying off employees (including Carta, Sonder, and Stack Overflow). 

It’s not just private markets that have recovered. Shares of data startup Snowflake gained 112% on its first day of public trading yesterday, boding well for the half dozen startups about to IPO in the coming weeks. Maybe it’s time for me to finally join all the millennials trading options on Robinhood? 😉 

Despite the froth, layoffs are unfortunately still happening. I won’t be turning Layoffs.fyi into IPO.fyi anytime soon (plus, someone already registered it 2 weeks ago 😠).

Below is a recap of the layoffs from this past week. Check out the Layoffs.fyi Tracker for a complete list of all tech layoffs during the pandemic.

🏢 NS8 ∙ 🌎 Las Vegas ∙ 👩 240 employees (95%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • NS8, a fraud prevention startup, laid off nearly its entire staff. Ironically, the layoff came just days after NS8 informed employees that it was itself under investigation for fraud. The startup’s CEO abruptly resigned amid the SEC investigation, and has claimed that he “did not walk away with the companies [sic] money.” NS8 raised a $123 million round of funding just months ago.

🏢 Bleacher Report ∙ 🌎 London ∙ 👩 20 employees ∙ 🔗Source

  • Digital sports media company Bleacher Report will lay off 20 employees later this month, representing nearly its entire London office. The UK staff had been focused on Bleacher Report’s football brand (what we Americans call “soccer”), and there’s speculation that this layoff is part of a series of decisions to pull back from its investment in the sport. Bleacher Report is currently owned by AT&T.

🏢 HubHaus ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 100% of employees ∙ 🔗Source

  • HubHaus, a co-living startup that manages shared homes, is shutting down and laying off all its employees. The startup says that it failed to attract enough tenants, perhaps because the pandemic has exacerbated rental markets in cities like San Francisco. 

🏢 Welkin Health ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 10 employees (33%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • The New York Post learned that patient healthcare software startup Welkin Health laid off a third of its workers in late April. Three days later, the company received a PPP loan worth over $1 million. Welkin claims that a declining sales pipeline caused the layoff. Since PPP loans are only forgivable if a company maintains its headcount, it’s likely that Welkin will need to pay back the loan.

Thanks to Layoffs.fyi intern Stephan Billingslea for contributing to this post.

Layoffs Roundup: Thurs 6/11/20

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Startup layoffs continue to decline! 📉 This week is on track to extend the 8-week downward trend we highlighted on Monday. For another look, check out TechCrunch’s analysis of the Layoffs.fyi data.

Below is a recap of the layoffs from this past week. If you’ve seen a layoff spreadsheet for any of these companies, please let us know.

As always, the Layoffs.fyi Tracker maintains a comprehensive list of all startup layoffs since COVID-19.

🏢 Lastline ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 50 employees (40%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A network security startup, Lastline announced that it is being acquired by VMware. As part of the acquisition, VMware will be laying off 40% of Lastline’s team (around 50 employees).

🏢 The Athletic ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 46 employees (8%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A sports news website, The Athletic saw new subscriber growth drop by 20-30% due to the hiatus of live sports. The NBA will be the first major sports league to resume (on July 31), since MLB continues to squabble and can’t get its act together 😡🤬.. Laid-off employees will receive 4 weeks of severance pay, health insurance coverage through the end of the year, full acceleration of unvested stock options, and an extension of the exercise period to one year.

🏢 Builder ∙ 🌎 Los Angeles ∙ 👩 39 employees (14%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A startup that makes it easy to build software without code, Builder.ai’s layoff was concentrated in its Los Angeles office. In addition, some U.K. staffers were placed on furlough, and remaining employees will be required to take a temporary pay cut. The company has experienced a drop in orders during the pandemic.

🏢 Credit Sesame∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 22 employees (14%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A provider of free credit monitoring, Credit Sesame earns revenue by making commissions from its credit card and loan partners. The company implied that its revenue has been affected by tightening credit markets, which has made it hard for consumers to borrow money or obtain credit. Larger rival Credit Karma announced last month that it was instituting pay cuts of between 15-50% and freezing promotions.

🏢 Ethos Life ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 18 employees (14%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A provider of life insurance, Ethos Life said the layoff was caused by “uncertainty with future consumer demand and capital markets.” Ethos had grown its team size from 30 employees in the beginning of 2019 to almost 130 people prior to the layoff.