Hmlet lays off about 20% more staff amid financial woes
CO-LIVING startup Hmlet on Thursday laid off more than 20 employees in middle- and upper-management roles to cut costs amid financial woes, The Business Times has learnt. This represents about 20 per cent of its headcount.
Staff across most departments - including those holding roles in technology, operations and marketing - were affected.
The new management brought in by existing investors is looking to turn Hmlet's fate around amid an environment deeply challenged by the pandemic. Sources said existing investors have committed more funds in order to extend the startup's cash runway.
The co-living company, which is backed by investors such as Burda Principal Investments and Sequoia Capital India, saw its co-founder and chief executive Yoan Kamalski step down after five years.
Hmlet has also lost its chief technology officer, chief financial officer and a few other top executives.
Peter Kennedy, a senior advisor at Burda Principal Investments, has been interim chief executive since March 15, a spokesperson told BT last week. Mr Kennedy was previously the executive chairman at Hurbert Burda Media, the parent company of Burda Principal Investments.
Hmlet had made staff cuts last year under a pivot to an asset-light model, according to reports by Tech in Asia. The series of layoffs brought Hmlet's headcount down from its peak of 200 in end-2019 to 100 last December.
It also appeared to have abandoned an ill-fated expansion into Malaysia and Thailand less than six months after its launch.
READ MORE:
