Sensor Tower, a prominent market intelligence firm for the app economy, this week laid off a notable portion of its workforce, estimated at around 40 people out of the 270+ at the company, according to LinkedIn’s headcount. The layoffs included C-suite executives, TechCrunch has learned from multiple sources, including the CMO, CFO and more. Other teams impacted include finance and nearly all of marketing, we’re hearing.
The company held an all-hands meeting to address the changes, which may still be underway as part of a larger reorg of Sensor Tower’s corporate structure.
Sensor Tower confirmed the layoffs, but not the particulars, noting it would issue a fuller release next week.
“Earlier this week, Sensor Tower’s management team took necessary steps to reorganize and right-size our business under a talented and experienced senior leadership team,” said Melissa Sheer, a publicist for Sensor Tower, in an emailed statement provided to TechCrunch. “We are excited about these changes as we position the company for a balance of continued growth and best-in-class profitability. We will provide more details in the coming days,” she said.
A popular provider of third-party data and insights for app developers, brands, marketers and publishers, Sensor Tower has grown its headcount over the years following its $45 million investment in 2020 from Riverwood Capital. The firm at the time cited 350 enterprise-level customers, such as Morgan Stanley, Zynga and Tencent. But Sensor Tower was still a small team then — just 75 employees — only a bit larger than the number of employees laid off this week.
Sensor Tower grew again in 2021 with its acquisition of market intelligence company Pathmatics, which allowed it to offer an expanded set of digital and mobile advertising insights. The deal included an undisclosed growth investment from Riverwood Capital into Pathmatics.
The company had then claimed it chose to raise more funds to further grow its business with investments in hiring, marketing and infrastructure, but noted it had been profitable since its launch.
Today, Sensor Tower’s website touts its use by top brands, firms and marketers, like Dyson, L’Oréal, Target, Johnson & Johnson, Welch’s, Petco, Chanel, Revolut, Getir, Warner Bros., Hershey, Wieden + Kennedy, ByteDance, Activision Blizzard, Allstate, Apple, Purina, Pepsico, Nike and more.
Its data is regularly cited by top publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, CNBC, The New York Times, Bloomberg and others, including TechCrunch.
Unfortunately, 2023 has been a tough year for layoffs, which have ranged from big names in tech like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Yahoo, Meta, Zoom, Roku, Spotify and Shopify, to smaller startups across all sectors, including crypto, SaaS, enterprise, consumer and more.
Update, 11/22/23, 3:30PM ET: Sensor Tower tells us the CPO was not impacted by the layoffs. We have removed the reference.
Sarah Perez is available at sarahp@techcrunch.com or on Signal at (415) 234-3994.