Bellevue-based intelligent device startup Esper laid off 12% of its staff Thursday.
The decision comes almost nine months after Esper's $60 million Series C round in October when the company had around 150 employees. A company spokesperson confirmed the layoffs but didn't provide current information on headcount before the layoffs.
"Based on the current economic climate and projections for future access to venture capital, we made the tough decision to eliminate roles and reduce expenditures," the spokesperson wrote in a statement to the Business Journal. "It’s rooted in changing our plan so that Esper can operate with the funding that we currently have and achieve revenue targets that will sustain us beyond the next two years."
Esper, founded in 2018, helps clients manage and update internet-connected devices like kiosks and point-of-sale systems. According to its website, Esper's clients include Taco Bell and Spire Health. The company says its services become necessary when clients have "more than a few hundred devices."
At the time of its Series C, Esper was adding to its physical footprint in Bellevue at a rapid clip, and the company was opening an office in the Bay Area. Esper co-founder and CEO Yadhu Gopalan said at the time the company could easily double its headcount over the course of a year.
Esper is one of multiple companies to reduce its staff in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Seattle-based real estate tech company Redfin confirmed plans to lay off about 470 employees. Seattle-based freight network startup Convoy, meanwhile, confirmed to the Business Journal this month that it laid off about 90 employees.
Local venture capitalists are advising companies to make their cash last as long as possible given a potential economic downturn.
"When you can raise almost unlimited capital at very high valuations, you tend to spend it," Jason Stoffer, partner at the venture capital firm Maveron, previously wrote in a message to the Business Journal. "Hence CEOs did not have to make choices and a lack of prioritization led to sloppiness. Companies embarked on too many projects, rather than fewer projects executed well. Companies hired too many employees when you could have done more with less."
