Just a few years ago, Commercetools, a “headless commerce” platform that offers APIs to businesses creating online storefronts, experienced a significant uptick in business. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses rushed to improve their e-commerce operations, and the company raised a staggering $1.9 billion.
The playbook for e-commerce with Commercetools looks a little different now.
Additionally, it is redistributing the responsibilities previously held by its chief information security and compliance officer and resigning its chief revenue officer and CFO, among other executive moves.
The full memo, shared by a source and confirmed as authentic by the company, is published below.
Beyond the layoffs that were disclosed on Wednesday, the firm denies that any more have been made. Burton also mentioned that the organization is trying to fill 25–30 available positions.
For a business that seems to have had a successful run in the market, it’s a challenging setback.
Before being purchased by retail behemoth REWE in 2015, Commercetools, which was first established in Munich, Germany, in 2006, had only raised $30 million in outside capital. By 2019, its revenues were increasing at a rate of 110% each year. With $145 million in capital from Insight Partners and a $300 million valuation, REWE spun it out as a startup once more.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Commercetools’ company grew rapidly as all forms of shopping shifted to digital platforms. At a $1.9 billion valuation led by Accel, it managed to raise $140 million less than three years after its Insight round.
Dirk Hoerig, the founder of Commercetools, served as CEO during this entire period. In July 2024, he resigned from the top spot, and Burton took his place. (Hoerig is the company’s chief innovation officer and has kept a seat on the board.)
Read Also:
- Apple reportedly planning to launch a new event invite feature code-named Confetti
- Google’s AI summaries of search results have harmed Chegg’s traffic and revenue
- OpenAI reveals a newly designed ChatGPT agent for ‘deep research’
- Journalists have been targeted on WhatsApp by Paragon spyware
- Trump expressed the new US sovereign wealth fund can also be purchased from TikTok
