Seattle-based Outreach is laying off about 5% of its workforce, a move that comes at a time when many startups are being advised to reduce costs and extend runway by trimming staff counts.
A company spokesperson confirmed the cuts to GeekWire and said the startup’s new headcount is approximately 1,200 employees.
“They are good people who have made significant contributions to Outreach and we will help them on their journey to find new employment,” CEO Manny Medina wrote in a LinkedIn post. “This will allow Outreach to not just weather the upcoming economic storm, but to extend our leadership in the market.”
A former employee said on LinkedIn that many members of the content team were slashed as part of the round of cuts. The spokesperson said the startup will continue to “add targeted new roles across departments.”
Outreach is the latest Seattle-based unicorn tech startup to have a round of layoffs this year, joining Rad Power Bikes, Qumulo and Convoy.
Outreach, which offers an AI-enabled sales platform, became a so-called unicorn startup in 2019 when it raised $114 million. Its valuation has more than quadrupled since then, with two additional fundraising rounds in 2020 and 2021.
Founded in 2014, Outreach has more than 4,600 customers including Tableau, Okta and DocuSign. It currently ranks No. 3 on the GeekWire 200, our list of the top privately-held tech startups in the Pacific Northwest.
Its total funding to-date is nearly $500 million, with backers including Sands Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Operator Collective, Lone Pine Capital, Spark Capital, Meritech Capital Partners, Trinity Ventures, Mayfield, and Sapphire Ventures.
The Puget Sound Business Journal first reported the layoffs.
