StumbleUpon Fails To steady New Funding, Lays Off “Dozens Of employees”

StumbleUpon, the once-widespread discovery engine that lets customers “stumble” onto new internet content material, has hit any other highway bump. in line with VentureBeat, the corporate is now downsizing even further following plenty of layoffs issued in 2013.

StumbleUpon is within the technique of brushing aside “dozens of workers” after failing to obtain some other round of funding. via the top of the week, the company’s workforce of virtually a hundred workers will be culled to simply 30, VentureBeat stories. those in engineering and sales positions will probably be spared, VentureBeat mentioned.

The social media web page has struggled to keep up with giants like fb and YouTube, particularly with regard to being attractive to advertisers. In 2012, StumbleUpon pronounced that it had 25 million registered customers—but it surely hasn’t launched new numbers in view that.

“It’s been difficult for StumbleUpon to compete,” a supply accustomed to the matter informed VentureBeat. “It predates numerous the social networks. It for sure had its heyday after they had their largest person base.”

VentureBeat points out that downloads of StumbleUpon’s iOS app have fallen steeply prior to now three years, in step with mobile apps analytics tool App Annie:

StumbleUpon ultimate secured funding in 2011, when it obtained $17 million—two years after it stepped out from under eBay and reclaimed its title as a startup. (The e-commerce web page had received StumbleUpon back in 2007.) In 2013, the company let go of 35 workers.

[via VentureBeat]