A San Francisco tech startup broaching unicorn standing has carried out layoffs simply months after boasting a large funding spherical — and at the least one employee seemed to be indignant about how the layoffs had been carried out.
AtoB, a monetary expertise firm launched in 2019 whose core product is a gasoline card for trucking and different transportation companies, laid off 32 workers, a spokesperson confirmed to SFGATE on Tuesday. The corporate employed 107 workers earlier than the layoffs, which means that 30% of the corporate was given pink slips.
“At present, we needed to make the tough choice to let a bunch of AtoB workers go in response to exterior financial headwinds and a broader restructuring we’ve undertaken to make sure the corporate delivers for our clients,” Elizabeth Ashford, a spokesperson for AtoB, advised SFGATE in an announcement Tuesday. “The group members we mentioned goodbye to as we speak all made unimaginable contributions to the corporate, and their laborious work has been instrumental to AtoB’s development.”
A former worker on the “Stripe for Transportation” who posted on Blind, the nameless job discussion board that requires workers register below an organization e-mail to show authenticity, expressed frustration on the firm over the way it carried out layoffs.
“No suggestions, no severance, nothing,” the poster alleged. “My supervisor simply scheduled a gathering and mentioned they wished to half methods.”
A minimum of two LinkedIn posts point out that the layoffs affected customer support workers, although Ashford confirmed that each one departments within the firm had been impacted.
Ashford acknowledged that each one workers acquired money and fairness primarily based on tenure as a part of their severance packages, disputing the nameless employee’s declare. Employees additionally had been allowed to maintain their work computer systems, she mentioned, and can obtain job placement companies.
The layoffs come as a little bit of a shock, contemplating the glowing protection AtoB has acquired within the tech press in current months. In August, because the weakening financial system and a pandemic cooldown the tech business, the corporate introduced that it raised $155 million in a spherical of funding with a valuation of $800 million. Forbes, on the time, reported that the funding can be used for firm enlargement.
It’s price noting that AtoB CEO Vignan Velivela purchased a house in Presidio Heights for $12 million on the finish of 2021; the house, in line with the Actual Deal, was beforehand owned by Hills Bros. espresso inheritor Herbert Hills.
AtoB employs 107 folks. If that quantity is correct — Ashford didn’t instantly reply when requested in a follow-up — greater than a 3rd of the corporate might have been laid off Tuesday.
