Greater Philadelphia entered the year with three tech unicorns. As it comes to a close, the number of billion-dollar startups that call the region home is down to just two — and both have been diminished by the economic trials of 2023.
Since late 2022, waves of layoffs have hit the technology sector — from major players like Meta and Microsoft down to small, early stage companies. Major fundraising rounds and acquisitions were scarce, and tech companies sought to conserve cash where they could.
Philadelphia's three highest-valued startups weren't able to dodge those waves, with all three enacting substantial workforce cuts and one doing so while moving its headquarters out of the region.
Here's a look at how Philadelphia's startup unicorns fared in 2023:
Misfits Market
Misfits Market was founded in North Philadelphia in 2018 by University of Pennsylvania alum Abhi Ramesh and moved its headquarters to Delanco in South Jersey in 2020. The past year was one of major change for Misfits Market. It slashed a third of its workforce in April and picked up its Philadelphia roots to relocate a month later. Locally, that meant 446 people were laid off in South Jersey, part of 649 total job cuts that included Misfits employees in Salt Lake City and Dallas.
The facility in Delanco closed and Misfits Market moved its official headquarters south to Hanover, Maryland. Ramesh still resides in Philadelphia, and the company's corporate employees work remotely, but nonetheless, Philadelphia's unicorn count dwindled in 2023.
Misfits Market is a subscription box service that delivers sustainably sourced, organic produce and other groceries, some of which would otherwise go to waste. Misfits Market has raised more than $526 million in funding to date, including a $225 million round in September 2021. It has a valuation north of $2 billion.
dbt Labs
Dbt Labs didn't shy away from making major moves in 2023. The data analytics company kicked off the year with the acquisition of San Francisco-based Transform, a tech company founded by former data scientists at Airbnb, in February. It was the 7-year-old company's first acquisition and one CEO Tristan Handy called "a bullseye."
It followed that in May by cutting its workforce by 15%, or about 64 employees, dropping its total headcount to around 400. In announcing the layoffs, Handy acknowledged that the company had grown quickly while the market was hot, and was being subjected to the difficult tech environment that battered the industry. He said it was a chance for a "reset."
In November, it brought in someone to get the company back into growth mode, naming Brandon Sweeney to the newly created role of president and chief operating officer. Sweeney brought with him over 20 years of experience in growing tech companies, most recently guiding HashiCorp. through an IPO as its chief revenue officer. Sweeney is looking to scale dbt Labs globally, but in the short-term the analytics startup focused on opening a New York office in the Flatiron District this year.
Dbt Labs has a valuation of $4.2 billion after raising a $222 million funding round in early 2022.
Gopuff
Gopuff ended 2022 on rocky footing, and it trickled into 2023. After cutting 10% of its workforce in the summer of 2022, then another 250 employees that fall, more layoffs came this past year. Gopuff reportedly trimmed its headcount by about 100 people in March, or about 2% of its workforce. The layoffs were mainly in the operations departments, including engineering and information technology.
Besides the workforce reductions, the 10-year-old delivery startup was relatively quiet in 2023. It partnered with WNBA All-Star MVP Jewell Lloyd, introduced various discount offers to its FAM membership platform and launched a pilot to deliver Starbucks products in Philadelphia from its fulfillment centers.
Gopuff has a $15 billion valuation.
