INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Another startup has turned to downsizing and fund raising to help weather the uncertainty around the economy amid the global coronavirus
People.ai, a predictive sales startup backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Iconic, Lightspeed and other investors and last year valued at around
$500 million, has laid off around 30 people, working out to about 18% of staff, A Technology News Room has learned and confirmed.Alongside
potentially other moves.Oleg Rogynskyy, the founder and CEO, said the layoffs were made not because business has slowed down, but to help
under $100 million in equity to date)
current customer base.He gave as an example the financial sector
customers, supposedly negating the tedious manual process of activity logging for SDRs
where salespeople may be deviating from a proven strategy.People.ai is one of a number of well-funded tech startups that is making hard
choices on business strategy, costs and staffing in the current climate.Layoffs.fyi, which has been tallying those losing their jobs in the
says that as of today, there have been nearly 25,000 people laid off from 258 tech startups and other companies
With companies like Opendoor laying off some 600 people earlier this week, the numbers are ratcheting up quickly: just seven days ago, the
number was just over 16,000.In that context, People.ai cutting 30 may be a smaller increment in the bigger picture (even if for the
house sales and transportation have all but halted, leaving companies in those categories scrambling to figure out how to get through the
coming weeks and months and prepare for a potentially long haul of life and consumer and business behavior not looking like it did before
January.But other businesses, like People.ai, which provides predictive sales tools to help salespeople do their jobs better, is (for now at
least) falling into that category of IT still in demand, perhaps even more than ever in a shrinking economy
up for renewal this quarter have either renewed or expanded their contracts, and it has been adding new large customers in recent weeks and
Although investors would have been willing to invest in another equity round, given that the company is in a healthy position right now,
Rogynskyy said he preferred the debt option to have the money without the dilution that equity rounds bring.The money will be used for
strategic purposes and considering how to develop the product in the current climate
least more of the time), that presents a new opportunity to develop products tailored for these remote workers.There have been some M-A
moves in tech in the last couple of weeks, and from what we understand People.ai has been approached as well as a possible buyer, target and
