Canadian social media management company Hootsuite Media Inc. announced it has laid off some of its staff as the former tech darling continues to struggle in a competitive online environment.
CTV News earlier reported that the Vancouver-based company laid off more than 100 employees on Tuesday although it’s not clear which departments or offices were impacted by the layoffs.
The company said it needed to “drive greater alignment” that led to organizational changes.
“Today Hootsuite communicated organizational changes in order to drive greater alignment with our growing company’s strategic priorities that best serve our customers,” a Hootsuite spokesperson told BNN Bloomberg in an interview. “Unfortunately, this included some reductions to our staff.”
“We remain committed to helping employees affected by today’s announcement through these times of transition. Our goal is to ensure they are treated with dignity and respect.”
Hootsuite wouldn’t confirm the layoff figures following inquiries by BNN Bloomberg.
The company’s technology helps to manage multiple social media platforms and its platform is used by more than 16 million people, the company said on its website. It was once valued at about $1 billion becoming one of Canada’s few “tech unicorns” and was touted as a potential candidate to go public.
However, additional players in the social media space squeezed out Hootsuite’s competitive advantage and the company recently explored a sale, according to Bloomberg News. Hootsuite hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to explore a sale at a valuation of at least US$750 million, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the deal.
The company raised venture funding in 2014 at a valuation of about US$750 million, with investors including Fidelity Investments. However, Fidelity wrote down its investment in Hootsuite in 2016 by 18 per cent, according to filings at the time.
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