Unicorn Lightricks cutting 12% of workforce in second round of layoffs
Unicorn Lightricks cutting 12% of workforce in second round of layoffs
The company is laying off around 70 employees as it shifts its focus to GenAI products for enterprises
Israeli company Lightricks is laying off 70 employees, Calcalist has learned. This represents 12% of the workforce in a company that employs 600 people in Israel, the USA, the UK, and China. The layoffs will primarily impact the company's consumer applications (B2C) division, as it shifts its focus to generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) products for enterprises. Simultaneously, the company plans to recruit dozens of new AI experts, with an emphasis on hiring in Israel.
This is the second round of layoffs that Lightricks has carried out in the last two years. In July 2022, the company laid off 80 employees, 70 of them in Israel. This came less than a year after it completed a fundraising round of $130 million at a valuation of $1.9 billion.
Lightricks develops tools for editing, rendering, design, and monetization for content creators. In February of this year, the company launched LTX Studio, a GenAI product that allows users to create videos based on generative artificial intelligence, enabling users to choose characters, scenes, and more. The current round of layoffs is being implemented to focus on products of this type and integrate them into Lightricks' core operations.
As part of this shift, the company is curtailing the development of consumer applications that did not meet growth goals, resulting in layoffs of employees involved in their development. However, Lightricks will continue to develop the Facetune application for editing facial images and integrate GenAI capabilities into it.
