Ava Labs Confirms Layoffs, Affecting 12% of Avalanche Studio's Employees

Crypto startup Ava Labs, which supports the Avalanche blockchain network, laid off a substantial portion of its workforce Monday, multiple impacted employees confirmed with Decrypt.

Following the initial publication of this article, Ava Labs founder and CEO Emin Gün Sirer tweeted that the company had parted ways with 12% of its employees, which will allow the firm to "reallocate resources to double down on the growth of our firm and the Avalanche ecosystem."

"Bear markets are difficult to navigate," he added. "Ava Labs is fortunate to have significant runway and resources at our disposal, and we will be focusing those resources on advancing the Avalanche ecosystem for years to come."

Decrypt asked an Ava Labs spokesperson to clarify how many people were affected by the cuts, or how many people remain at the company following the layoffs, but did not immediately receive a response.

Garrison Yang, VP of Growth and Strategy at Ava Labs, wrote on Twitter on Monday afternoon that the cuts affected “many people” in the company’s marketing division. Another laid off employee wrote that the layoffs have hit “so many others.”

It remains unclear whether Monday’s cuts have impacted the company’s technical teams, but by all accounts, the layoffs have been widespread—to the degree that, even amid the current, brutal crypto bear market, they caught many employees by surprise. 

“I thought we were turning a corner,” one laid off Ava Labs employee who asked not to be identified told Decrypt. “But seems like it was quite a few of us.”

One former member of Ava’s gaming marketing team wrote that he understands Monday’s cuts to be part of a larger “restructuring” strategy. 

Late last week, NFT marketplace OpenSea underwent a similar “restructuring,” which saw the company lay off about 50% of its entire staff. Less than two years prior, OpenSea had appeared untouchable, securing a whopping $13.3 billion valuation after a Series C funding round. 

But the enduring crypto recession—which kicked off almost a year and a half ago following the implosions of cryptocurrencies Terra and LUNA last May—has stubbornly persisted. Even after multiple rounds of layoffs at major crypto companies this year and last, the sturdiest of firms in the industry are struggling to hold on until the next crypto spring—which seems to many just as far away as ever.

Edited by Andrew Hayward

Editor's note: This article was updated after publication to include comment and details from Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer.