Bitwise, a California tech startup, furloughs all 900 workers
Fresno-based Bitwise Industries has furloughed its entire 900-worker staff, leaving employees of the technology incubation and training startup out of work in several California cities.
Employees in Fresno; Merced; Bakersfield; Oakland; El Paso, Texas; and Toledo, Ohio, among other cities, learned about the furloughs Monday night, according to the Fresno Bee. Jake Soberal, the company’s co-founder and co-CEO, told the Bee that several important transactions “did not materialize or materialized unfavorably,” and the company’s board decided in an emergency meeting to make this “very temporary action.”
Despite the language, workers appear to have understood the suspension as akin to a layoff, and headed to LinkedIn to post their goodbyes and put out feelers for potential openings.
Bitwise, founded in 2013 as a coding bootcamp in Fresno, has now opened co-working spaces in several cities and trained thousands of workers in a push to revitalize downtowns and bring tech skills and jobs to underserved communities. The company was growing fast, with an $80 million investment round this February led by Motley Fool and the Oakland-based Kapor Center that came alongside plans to open up a location in Chicago.
The company also sells tech services like Salesforce consulting and invests in “underestimated founders,” according to its website.
But documents obtained by the San Joaquin Valley Sun depict a firm that has struggled to generate cash outside the public and nonprofit sectors. More than half of Bitwise’s large-ticket transactions have come from nonprofit grants, the Sun reported, and government-issued grants have become a key revenue stream.
For instance, Fresno contracted the company for a program to provide technology workshops for small, minority-owned businesses in the city last October. So far, the city has paid the firm half of an allotted $1 million, which came as an American Rescue Plan Act grant, according to Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer.
In a statement to SFGATE, Dyer said the city government is in touch with Bitwise to determine whether the program will continue and whether funding will need to be returned. Bitwise did not respond to requests for comment.
The company has raised $180 million in investments over the past decade, including the round this February. Investors at the time valued the firm at $600 million, Reuters reported.
Hear of anything happening at Bitwise Industries? Contact tech reporter Stephen Council securely at [email protected] or on Signal at 628-204-5452.
Fresno-based Bitwise Industries has furloughed its entire 900-worker staff, leaving employees of the technology incubation and training startup out of work in several California cities.
Employees in Fresno; Merced; Bakersfield; Oakland; El Paso, Texas; and Toledo, Ohio, among other cities, learned about the furloughs Monday night, according to the Fresno Bee. Jake Soberal, the company’s co-founder and co-CEO, told the Bee that several important transactions “did not materialize or materialized unfavorably,” and the company’s board decided in an emergency meeting to make this “very temporary action.”
Despite the language, workers appear to have understood the suspension as akin to a layoff, and headed to LinkedIn to post their goodbyes and put out feelers for potential openings.
Bitwise, founded in 2013 as a coding bootcamp in Fresno, has now opened co-working spaces in several cities and trained thousands of workers in a push to revitalize downtowns and bring tech skills and jobs to underserved communities. The company was growing fast, with an $80 million investment round this February led by Motley Fool and the Oakland-based Kapor Center that came alongside plans to open up a location in Chicago.
The company also sells tech services like Salesforce consulting and invests in “underestimated founders,” according to its website.
But documents obtained by the San Joaquin Valley Sun depict a firm that has struggled to generate cash outside the public and nonprofit sectors. More than half of Bitwise’s large-ticket transactions have come from nonprofit grants, the Sun reported, and government-issued grants have become a key revenue stream.
For instance, Fresno contracted the company for a program to provide technology workshops for small, minority-owned businesses in the city last October. So far, the city has paid the firm half of an allotted $1 million, which came as an American Rescue Plan Act grant, according to Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer.
In a statement to SFGATE, Dyer said the city government is in touch with Bitwise to determine whether the program will continue and whether funding will need to be returned. Bitwise did not respond to requests for comment.
The company has raised $180 million in investments over the past decade, including the round this February. Investors at the time valued the firm at $600 million, Reuters reported.
Hear of anything happening at Bitwise Industries? Contact tech reporter Stephen Council securely at [email protected] or on Signal at 628-204-5452.
