* Data analytics unicorn Segment cut 10% of its staff as it navigates the difficulties brought by the coronavirus-driven downturn.
* The company, last valued at $1.5 billion, offers a customer data platform aimed to take on industry giants like Oracle and Salesforce. It's attracted about $284 million in total funding from investors such as Accel and Alphabet's GV.
* At last count, Segment CEO Peter Reinhardt told Business Insider that the company had over 19,000 customers, including direct-to-consumer unicorn Glossier.
* But as stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines have squeezed companies, enterprise companies like Segment are also beginning to get affected.
* Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Data analytics unicorn Segment cut a little over 50 jobs from its workforce on Wednesday, as it navigates the difficulties brought by the coronavirus-driven downturn.
Segment CEO Peter Reinhardt confirmed that the startup had laid off 10% of its staff in an emailed statement to Business Insider on Thursday, adding that the company was still adjusting to a situation was changing day-by-day.
Segment will also be restructuring the organization to adjust to the economic changes wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Reinhardt added, but did not offer further details.
The $1.5 billion company offers data management and analysis services to customers, and promises to deliver a more complete approach to the business than the customer relationship management (CRM) tools offered by industry giants like Oracle and Salesforce. Its bid to do so won it close to $284 million in total funding from investors such as Accel and Alphabet's GV.
At last count, Segment CEO Peter Reinhardt told Business Insider that the company had over 19,000 customers, including high-profile brands like Glossier, the direct-to-consumer beauty unicorn that closed its stores in March, as the coronavirus began to hit the United States.
But stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines have squeezed its pool of customers, enterprise companies like Segment are beginning to anticipate a slowdown in their own businesses as IT budgets start to shrink — and is now trying to quickly adapt.
One of the main goals that Segment now has is to build products for "customers being pushed head-first into rapid digital transformation in this new socially-distanced world," Reinhardt wrote.
"Balancing these goals in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic while making sure that we're well-resourced for the next few years has meant that we had to make the difficult choice of reducing the size of our team and restructuring our organization for this new all-digital world," Reinhardt added.
You can read Segment's full statement below:
"It's true that yesterday was a very difficult day at Segment. We had to lay off approximately 10% of our team.
Over the past month we've been working hard to understand the impact of COVID-19 on our business. As is true for so many, the situation changes day-to-day, and we've had to make several adjustments as new data emerges. In approaching planning for the near and long term alike, we must accomplish three things: (1) deliver great experiences to our customers; (2) take care of and support the Segment team; and (3) invest in continuing to build great products, especially for customers being pushed head-first into rapid digital transformation in this new socially-distanced world. Balancing these goals in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic while making sure that we're well-resourced for the next few years has meant that we had to make the difficult choice of reducing the size of our team and restructuring our organization for this new all-digital world.
We're working hard to support the well-being of the people impacted by this layoff as well as the rest of Segment. Recent events have shown us that while there are many things outside of our control, what we can control is how we come together to support one another as we move ahead. Our mission and vision remain unchanged, and never more relevant: to enable customer-focused growth with good data."
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