Email startup Superhuman lays off 22% of staff. 'Difficult choice,’ says founder

Rahul Vohra, founder and CEO of Superhuman. (Image credit: rahulvohra/Twitter)

Superhuman, a California-based email startup, has laid off 23 employees, founder and CEO Rahul Vohra announced on Twitter Friday. The laid-off employees made up about 22% of the company’s workforce.

“I am saddened to share that we have decided to lay off 22% of the Superhuman team. Today, we say goodbye to 23 remarkably talented Superhumans,” Rahul Vohra, who launched the email service in 2016, announced on Twitter Friday. He attributed the layoffs to a downturn that could last years.

“As we head into a downturn that could last years, we made this difficult choice so that we can deliver on our vision sustainably,” wrote Vohra, adding that Superhuman is doing all it can to support the 23 employees, including a generous severance package, mental health support, health insurance throughout the year and assisting them in looking for new jobs.

I am saddened to share that we have decided to lay off 22% of the Superhuman team. Today, we say goodbye to 23 remarkably talented Superhumans.

As we head into a downturn that could last years, we made this difficult choice so that we can deliver on our vision sustainably.

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— rahulvohra (@rahulvohra) June 3, 2022

In August 2021, Superhuman raised $75 million in Series C funding. The round was led by IVP, with participation from Tiger Global and other investors like Arianna Huffington, Ashton Kutcher, Will Smith and the CEO of Dropbox, among others, Rahul Vohra had announced on the company website at the time.

The layoffs at Superhuman come after several tech giants, including Netflix, announced widespread layoffs and freezes on hiring, citing the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and slowdown of investment from venture capitalists.