Amazon-backed creator startup Spotter lays off staffers. Read the memo from its CEO.
Spotter, a startup that works with some of YouTube's biggest stars, laid off staff this week, the company confirmed to Business Insider.
BI was unable to determine the exact number of employees affected, but the layoffs impacted teams across the company.
"As the macroeconomic environment continues to evolve, we've made the difficult but strategic decision to implement organizational changes, including a reduction in the size of our team," a spokesperson for Spotter told BI.
The spokesperson said the cuts will help "accelerate our path to profitability by the end of this year."
Spotter is a major player in the creator space. Last year, it attracted funding from Amazon as part of a larger deal to work with Spotter's creator partners. The company's talent pool includes MrBeast, Dude Perfect, and Ryan Trahan. Spotter, which was founded in 2019 and is also backed by SoftBank, built a business buying the rights to license creator content. In March, the company said it had paid out over $950 million to creators.
That month, Spotter hosted a splashy pitch event in New York for creators and advertisers. The company said this week's layoffs did not impact Spotter's advertising sales team.
The cuts mark Spotter's second round of layoffs in the last six months. The company laid off employees in November, a spokesperson previously told The Information.
Spotter is not the only creator content licensing startup to cull staff in the past year. Jellysmack, a competitor that shares Softbank as an investor, made cuts in October amid a restructuring. Some startups focused on creator services have failed to meet growth expectations, industry investors previously told BI.
Spotter also offers AI-powered products to help creators come up with video ideas, titles, and thumbnails. It also runs an advertising business connecting brands with creators.
Read the email Spotter's CEO Aaron DeBevoise sent to employees this week announcing the job cuts:
Team,
Today, we've made the difficult decision to part ways with some of our teammates. I understand today is challenging - particularly for those impacted.
These changes were thoroughly considered, particularly given recent economic uncertainty and volatility, which have further impacted investors' demand for efficiency and profitability. Despite our success in Q1, it has become clear that in light of the economic environment, we must make targeted changes to accelerate our path to profitability and control our own destiny.
To our impacted teammates: We are so thankful for your contributions which have been critical to advancing our mission to help Creators win.
We have already sent calendar invites to all impacted employees for conversations today where you will learn about next steps. We are committed to supporting these team members as they transition to their next opportunities.
Thank you.
Aaron
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