It’s crunch time for TrackR[1], that startup that lets you use an app to find items like keys, wallets and bags that have been tagged with its small Bluetooth-based tracking devices. TechCrunch has learned and confirmed that the company has laid off a substantial proportion of its staff, as it seeks to sharpen its focus amid a wider market contraction for item-tracking businesses.
The company did not confirm how many have been let go, nor how many are remaining in a statement that it provided to TechCrunch via a spokesperson:
“As TrackR’s strategy evolves, the organization needs to evolve, too,” it notes. “The recent rebalancing of TrackR’s workforce is to ensure the company remains efficient and focused on areas that will deliver on TrackR’s vision. The company is continuing to position itself to lead the item finding space.:
A source tells TechCrunch, however, there were 42 employees let go (a number also noted in this recent review on Glassdoor[2]). LinkedIn lists just over 90[3] connected to the the company (including investors and board members), while PitchBook notes[4] 35 employees, meaning that this could be more than half of TrackR’s staff.
The downsizing comes at a tricky time, both for TrackR and the wider space of device tracking startups.
From a high point of raising $50 million[5] in August 2017 at a valuation of just over $201 million –investors included Steve Case’s Revolution Growth, Amazon (via its Alexa Fund), the Foundry Group, Docomo Capital and others — Trackr has had a series of stumbles, some unforeseen.
In December, Chris Herbert — who co-founded the company with Christian Smith in Santa Barbara after one of them lost a...