Thrasio, a Boston-area company that buys consumer brands from Amazon, will lay off an unspecified number of employees this week and replace its chief executive in the coming months, a sign the high-flying startup is entrenching itself.
In an email sent to staff on Monday morning, CEO Carlos Cashman and Chairman Danny Boockvar told employees the company would reduce the size of its workforce, but they did not say how many people would be affected. The email was obtained by Initiatedand a Thrasio spokesperson confirmed to The Globe that this was correct.
According to the email, Thrasio will notify employees on Tuesday or Wednesday if they are part of the layoff. If so, their last day in the company will be May 13. In November, Thrasio mentioned it had more than 1,000 employees.
In a Press release Monday, Thrasio said Greg Greeley, who spent nearly two decades at Amazon as a vice president (and most recently at Airbnb), has joined its board of directors and would transition to CEO in August. Cashman will step down from his leadership role and remain on the board.
It’s been a tumultuous time for Thrasio, which, according to PitchBook, has raised $3.5 billion from investors since its inception in 2018.
In less than eight months, Thrasio ousted its two co-founders from the role of CEO, a position they previously shared. (Josh Silberstein stepped down as co-CEO in September.) Thrasio also halted a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company, then raised more than $1 billion in a funding round. in October.
Based on Walpole Thrasio is one of the biggest e-commerce aggregators. The company buys brands that sell products online, with the objective of stimulating sales through technological, marketing and logistics know-how.
The company has been boasting speed during which it acquired new brands, but sources told Insider the company was growing too quickly.
In the email to employees, executives said Thrasio sometimes acquires a new business almost every week. Cashman and Boockvar said the company needs to “properly absorb and grow the businesses we’ve acquired” and “ensure we have strong processes and controls.”
Anissa Gardizy can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @anissagardizy8 and on Instagram @anissagardizy.journalism.
Comments are closed.