Virtual events platform Hopin, last valued at a $7.75 billion valuation, has laid off 29% of employees, or 242 people, a spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch over e-mail. The cuts come just four months after Hopin let 12% of its workforce go, at the time citing a goal of sustainable growth amid the changing market.
In the company’s latest staff reduction, Hopin said that the employees impacted primarily supported its events business. Assuming that most people within the company work to support its event business, it’s unclear which teams were specifically reduced. Hopin said that it has been investing and growing Hopin into a multi-product portfolio, including in-person event management, hybrid events, video hosting and “new products currently in development.”
Senior executives are also departing as part of the layoff, but Hopin did not share specifics. In addition to cutting nearly a third of the company, Hopin confirmed that some contractors and members of a third party team were laid off but did not provide exact numbers.
“We’ve made the very difficult decision to reduce our workforce given the current macroeconomic climate and need for our events product to move forward efficiently,” a spokesperson said via email. The spokesperson said that the company took preventative measures before the layoff, including a hiring freeze and reduction in marketing spend. “It became necessary to simplify our events business and supporting operations to build a profitable and sustainable company.”
Hopin’s 2022 looks dramatically different from its 2021, a year when the company acquired five startups including a $250 million purchase of StreamYard. The venture-backed startup amassed up to $1 billion in known venture capital over a two-year window, from top investors including Tiger Global, Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Accel, Slack Fund, Coatue, Salesforce Ventures and others, per Crunchbase.
Despite the pandemic’s on-going proliferation throughout the world, bits of normal life have resumed – including the return of in-person work and events. Hopin, built for the surging demand in remote events and virtual collaboration, is therefore challenged to evolve itself beyond being a pandemic tool.
Two rounds of layoffs in close proximity to each other suggests that Hopin’s business is in need of runway. Those impacted by today’s layoff, per Hopin, will receive three months of compensation and health benefits, access to mental health benefits, and the one-year cliff dropped for stock vesting. Employees can also keep their laptops.
“Hopin’s mission has always been to build technology that better connects people, and these changes were made so we can focus on this now more than ever,” the spokesperson said to TechCrunch over e-mail.
Current and former Hopin employees can contact Natasha Mascarenhas by e-mail at natasha.m@techcrunch.com or on Signal, a secure encrypted messaging app, at 925 271 0912.
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