Yonder, an Austin startup that helps identify disinformation campaigns online using AI, has laid off 18 of its employees, Austin Inno has confirmed.
"It was a difficult decision, and we're parting ways with some incredibly talented people," founder and CEO Jonathon Morgan told Inno via email. "But we have to take the unprecedented COVID-19 situation and its impact on the financial markets seriously. To be blunt, there are challenging times ahead for early-stage startups and we need to be prepared."
Morgan declined to go into specifics about the decision making behind the layoffs, noting they are sensitive conversations that need to stay internal for now.
"Yonder will continue to grow, just not at the aggressive pace that we predicted at the beginning of this year," he wrote to Inno. "The reduction in cost gives the company the runway we believe is needed to weather this tough period and go on to grow a successful business."
Yonder helps other companies monitor and verify the authenticity of social chatter about their brands online. It launched in 2015 and used the company name New Knowledge until rebranding in October 2019. At that time, it had about 60 employees.
The startup has raised $18 million in venture capital funding from investors including BuildGroup, Lux Capital, GGV Capital, Geekdom Fund, Moonshots Capital, Capital Factory and others.
Last year, the company moved into new offices near 8th and Brazos, and had plans to grow to about 100 people by the end of 2020.
The layoffs come as startups everywhere are girding for the massive financial and market impacts caused by disruptions and near full societal shutdowns as the world grapples to control the coronavirus pandemic.
In Boston, for example, corporate travel startup Lola.com laid of 34 people, citing coronavirus disruptions.
While Morgan decline to get into details, he said the coronavirus pandemic is likely to have an impact on many startups.
"I think all venture-backed companies are or should be rethinking how they operate to prepare for tough times," he wrote.
