Ava Labs Lays Off 12% of Workforce as Bear Market Stretches

Ava Labs, a crypto startup and the leading developer of the Avalanche blockchain has laid off 12% of its workforce amid the persistent bear market.

The company’s founder and CEO, Emir Gün Sirer, confirmed the job cuts on X, stating that the move would allow the management to reallocate resources to the growth of the firm and the expansion of the Avalanche ecosystem.

Ava Labs Slashes Headcount

“Bear markets are difficult to navigate,” said Sirer, adding that Ava Labs is lucky to have significant resources at its disposal. With the exit of some team members, those funds would be channeled toward the advancement of Avalanche.

“We are no longer a 12 person startup, but we strive to capture the speed and energy of a small, nimble team…I am deeply thankful to everyone who contributed to Ava Labs and helped champion the Avalanche ecosystem. Let’s not forget the immense progress and impact this team has made across every stretch of our industry,” Sirer stated.

The CEO’s tweet came after Ava Labs’ former employees revealed they were affected by the job cut. One of the impacted workers, Garrison Yang, who was the vice president of growth and strategy at the company, stated that the headcount slash affected many people in the marketing team. The now-ex-gaming growth marketer and content creator Zach Manafort confirmed Yang’s words, adding that he felt for all the affected parties.

According to Ava Labs’ LinkedIn profile, the company has around 335 employees. The 12% workforce slash suggests that about 40 people have left the firm.

Not Alone

Ava Labs is not the only crypto firm that has felt the harshness of the bear market that has persisted this year. Many crypto companies have had to let go of their workers amid struggles to stay afloat.

A few days ago, the popular non-fungible token marketplace OpenSea had to reduce its headcount by 50% as part of efforts to restructure and rebuild its business. Last month, blockchain analytics platform Chainalysis conducted a second round of layoffs, letting go of 150 employees out of its 900.

Besides, OpenSea and Chainalysis, the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, blockchain games developer Dapper Labs, crypto exchanges Luno and Crypto.com have all let go of a significant number of their employees.