ZoomInfo to shut Israel R&D center, lay off 300 employees
The closure comes five years after the US software company acquired Israeli startup Chorus.ai for $575 million.
ZoomInfo will close its development center in Israel by the end of the year, a move that is expected to lead to the layoffs of around 300 employees and effectively end the company’s local operations.
Employees were informed of the decision unexpectedly on Sunday morning during a meeting led by Chad Herring, ZoomInfo’s Chief Human Resources Officer, who traveled to Israel specifically for the announcement. According to employees, the news came as a shock.
The closure marks a sharp reversal from ZoomInfo’s expansion in Israel five years ago, when the American software company announced the acquisition of Chorus.ai in a deal valued at $575 million.
The company has not publicly detailed what activities, if any, will remain in Israel after the closure is completed later this year.
ZoomInfo also has Israeli roots, the company was founded by Yonatan Stern in Israel before it went through an IPO in 2020 after it was acquired several times along the way. Currently, the company is valued at about $1.9 billion, down by over 33 percent so far this year.
