Loom, an enterprise collaboration video messaging service, has laid off 34 employees, or 14% of its total workforce, sources said. Product and human operations employees were affected.
The venture-backed company confirmed the layoffs and the number of people affected, and provided the following statement from founder and CEO Joe Thomas:
We had to make the extremely difficult decision to move forward with downsizing within our team. Each person affected was not only a talented employee, but also a valued person and teammate. We are committed to supporting these employees through this transition, both through the severance package offered to them and through career support. We are confident in the way forward for Loom. This decision was ultimately made to ensure that we are able to move forward in a sustainable manner, particularly in light of heightened economic uncertainty, and continue to deliver on our vision for years to come.
The company was founded by Thomas and Vinay Hiremath in 2015, reaching 1.8 million users across 50,000 businesses three years later. According to its website, Loom currently has 14 million users across 200,000 companies, including Netflix, Atlassian, HubSpot, and Juniper Networks.
Similar to Hopin, Loom has benefited from an increase in people working from home in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; the product was positioned to help remote workers find better ways to connect with colleagues in a virtual-first world, and help hybrid workforces find a lightweight way to skip some meetings. Then, again like Hopin, the startup made layoffs to help it build what it describes as a more sustainable way forward.
This growth has attracted $203 million in known venture capital funding, with the company recently announcing a Series C led by Andreessen Horowitz. The same round valued the company at $1.53 billion, earning it unicorn status for the first time. Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia, Coatue and General Catalyst are also investors in the company.
More than a year has passed since the startup landed the new funding and valuation, and according to today’s news, Loom joins the club of unicorns who had to downsize after hitting the milestone. coveted.
Less than a year ago, visual creation tools startup Picsart raised $130 million from SoftBank, securing a valuation of over $1 billion. The company laid off 8% of its staff last month, affecting 90 people. Cameo, which also became a unicorn last year, also recently made layoffs that affected 87 people.
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