Android operating system developer Cyanogen is laying off a “significant portion” of its staff today, according to an AndroidPolice report.
The Seattle-based company, which has raised more than $110 million to date, cut around 20 percent of its 136-person workforce today, reported AndroidPolice.
Sources also tell GeekWire that there were many layoffs at the company today. We’ve followed up with Cyanogen to learn more.
Cyanogen was founded in 2013 by Seattle software developer Steve Kondik, who started kicking around the idea as an open source project known as CyanogenMod in 2009. Cyanogen, which won the “Next Tech Titan” award at the GeekWire Awards 2015, develops an alternative version of Android for smartphones. An outgrowth of the popular CyanogenMod open-source project, Cyanogen has inked key partnerships over the past few years with companies including Qualcomm, Alcatel, and Microsoft.
The company raised an $80 million financing round last year, which included participation from Twitter Ventures, Qualcomm, and others.
Kondik, who previously worked for Samsung in Bellevue, told GeekWire last year that Cyanogen was trying to create an “Open Android” approach.
But now it appears that Cyanogen may be shifting its business model. Recode noted that the company struggled to convince phone makers to use its software, while AndroidPolice reported that Cyanogen may focus more on apps.
