Sequoia & a16z Backed Loom Fires Its 34 Employees: Here’s Why

Loom, an enterprise video messaging service, has fired 14% of its total staff or 34 employees. Individuals from the product and people operations are affected.

The firm has confirmed the news of the layoff and the number of people impacted. Joe Thomas, the founder, and CEO of the company, also shared that the decision to declare the layoffs was extremely difficult. Further stating, the CEO said that each person was a valued individual and teammate and not just a talented employee.

The CEO is also committed to supporting these employees both in their offered severance and career support.

The decision was taken to make sure the company is able to move forward sustainably, especially in the current atmosphere of increased economic uncertainty, and continue to work towards its goal for years to come.

The company’s motto as per its website is to: “Bring video messaging to the world.” The company was launched in 2015 and reached 1.8 million users across 50,000 businesses in just three years.

Currently, it caters to more than 14 Million users across 200,000 companies. Its clients include Netflix, Atlassian, HubSpot, and Juniper Networks.

The surge in people working from home during the pandemic benefited Loom, just like Hopin. The product was introduced to help hybrid workforces to find a lightweight way to skip some meetings and for colleagues to connect in a virtual world. The startup then started conducting layoffs to help in building in what is described as a more sustainable way going ahead.

The growth has attracted $203 million in known venture capital funding, while the firm most recently announced a Series C led by Andreessen Horowitz. The company was valued at $1.53 billion after the same round, leading to the company hitting unicorn status for the first time. Among investors in the company are Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia, Coatue, and General Catalyst.

As per the recent updates, Loom has joined the club of unicorns that have had to scale back workforces after achieving the milestone. Meanwhile, it has been a year since the startup has landed the new financing and valuation.

Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while his post-graduation. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing along with being a developer. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing