Silo, a Bay Space meals provide chain startup, has hit a tough patch. TechCrunch has realized that the corporate on Tuesday laid off roughly 30% of its employees, or north of two dozen workers. Silo has confirmed the headcount reductions, clarifying the cuts have been throughout the board and never targeted on particular person departments.
Silo shared the next assertion with TechCrunch relating to the layoffs:
We lately made the troublesome resolution to scale back our headcount by virtually 30%. We’re dedicated to supporting these group members impacted and have offered severance packages and recruiting assist. On the identical time, Silo stays devoted to serving our prospects and the perishables trade at massive, and can proceed to focus extra nimbly on constructing next-generation provide chain administration software program options.
Based in 2018, Silo’s platform helps automate the workflows of meals and agricultural companies and later expanded into different areas, like cost merchandise for accounts payable and receivable automation, stock administration, ledger accounting, financing and extra.
Main as much as the layoffs was a difficulty round a lending product that had damage Silo’s income. An organization supply confirmed {that a} buyer had turn out to be delinquent on their mortgage, which precipitated Silo’s banking associate to pause the mortgage product. Silo then labored with the financial institution to resolve the issue with the shopper, so the ability has the flexibility to fund once more.
Whereas Silo is now capable of lend, the dearth of cost from that buyer and general pause in lending meant a drop in income for that interval, resulting in the layoffs. For that motive, Silo will seemingly watch out about ramping up the lending product because it strikes ahead.
This all happened in current weeks. Nonetheless, it’s doable that if Silo had carried out stronger threat administration processes, it wouldn’t have confronted the default.
As well as, we’re listening to Silo is engaged in M&A discussions as one other doable decision to its present state of affairs. The corporate had beforehand engaged in discussions with potential deal companions forward of its Sequence C final 12 months, however the fundraise allowed Silo to pause these talks for a time. In current weeks, these M&A discussions have picked again up once more on the again of recent development the corporate noticed final 12 months in addition to the doable want for an exit.
The startup raised $32 million in Sequence C funding final summer season. Buyers embrace Initialized, Haystack, Tribe Capital, KDT, a16z and others.
