2022年7月30日

Shelf Engine是西雅圖最新一家裁員的初創公司。這家幫助雜貨商管理食品訂單的公司向GeekWire證實，由於“具有挑戰性的經濟狀況”，該公司解雇了43名員工。該公司沒有提供最新的員工人數;去年9月，這家初創公司從一群名人那裏籌集了資金，當時已經雇傭了200名員工。據領英稱，該公司目前約有150名員工。Shelf Engine首席執行官兼聯合創始人斯蒂芬•卡爾布在寫給GeekWire的郵件中寫道:“由於當前經濟形勢嚴峻，Shelf Engine做出了一個非常艱難的決定，決定裁員。”“我們正在努力實現通過自動化減少食物浪費的使命。”在整體經濟低迷的情況下，許多公司都被建議削減成本和擴大現金跑道，這通常意味著裁員。今年，Convoy、Flyhomes、Rad Power Bikes、98point6和Esper等西雅圖初創公司都進行了幾輪裁員。Shelf成立於2016年，利用機器學習來簡化雜貨商進貨的訂購過程，旨在降低成本，減少過程中的浪費。 The company reported in September that retailers who use the platform can reduce food waste by as much as 32% while increasing profits. Shelf Engine makes money by marking up products it buys from vendors that it sells to retailers. In September, the startup said that it was being used in at least 3,500 U.S. stores, with large retailers such as Kroger, Target and Whole Foods, as well as the food service company Compass Group named as clients. It also opened a second office in Denver. Shelf Engine co-founders Bede Jordan (left) and Stefan Kalb. (Shelf Engine Photo) Kalb got the idea for the company through another startup he co-founded, Molly’s, which provides healthy food to hospitals, grocery stores, coffee shops, gyms and offices. Kalb noticed the difficulty of building efficient fresh food orders and decided to build software that helped Molly’s purchase the right amount of bulk food to fulfill customer requests. Kalb co-founded Shelf Engine in 2016 with Bede Jordan , a Microsoft veteran who was the principal software engineering lead for the company’s HoloLens team. The leadership team also includes Deborah Alexander , chief operating officer and head of finance. The company has raised around $60 million to date, including a $41 million round in March 2021 and a $2 million round in September led by celebrities including Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, Shaun White and Shawn Mendes. Other investors include General Catalyst, GGV Capital, Foundational Capital, 1984 Ventures, Correlation Ventures, Founders’ Co-op, Soma Capital, Firebolt Ventures, and Initialized Capital. Shelf’s post-money valuation in September was about $180 million, according to PitchBook.