Deeptech/Software & SaaS/News/

Tiger-backed startup Pitch lays off 30% of staff

It is offering a seemingly generous layoff package to the 59 individuals being let go

By Amy Lewin

Pitch's team

Pitch, the Berlin-based startup creating alternatives to Google Slides and PowerPoint, has today announced it will be laying off 30% of its team.

In a LinkedIn post, CEO and founder Christian Reber explained that 59 individuals would be let go today.

To date, Pitch has raised $136m from well-known investors including Index, Lakestar and Tiger. Its last announced funding round was an $85m Series B in May 2021.

Earlier this year, the startup announced that it would pause hiring in anticipation of market conditions declining.

But, Reber says in a separate post on Notion, “the ongoing VC pullback” combined with “almost all technology companies globally… aggressively cutting costs” has further affected the business. Making these cuts now is part of a plan to extend the company’s runway until the end of 2026, he says.

The layoff package

Reber laid out the generous terms of the layoff package being offered on Notion.

  • Pitch will pay laid-off employees’ salaries until the end of 2022;
  • Laid-off employees’ shares will also continue to vest until the end of 2022 — and they will be able to keep them afterwards.

It has also created a dedicated Pitch alumni list to help affected employees find new jobs.

Pitch declined to comment.

Amy Lewin is Sifted’s editor and cohost of The Sifted Podcast, and writes Up Round, a weekly newsletter on VC. She tweets from @amyrlewin

This piece has been updated to reflect the publishing of Pitch’s alumni list.