Community, a platform that lets influencers and brands communicate with fans over text message, laid off about 40 staffers earlier this month, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation.
The platform, an SMS reimagining of a classic email-marketing tool, gives public figures and companies – including Eminem, Addison Rae, Paul McCartney, and Stacey Abrams – a unique phone number where fans can opt in to receive content and promotions.
Influencers can also glean location and demographic information about their followers. Then, they can send messages to various subsets of their communities, or even on a one-to-one basis – to wish a fan happy birthday, for instance. Community monetizes by charging influencers and businesses a fee, which is based on frequency of use and the size of the following.
Community launched in 2019, and in April 2021 raised $40 million from Salesforce Ventures, the software company's investment arm, The Wall Street Journal reported. That brought its total funding to $90 million, with other backers including Twilio, Live Nation Entertainment, and the Sony Innovation Fund.
At the time, the company said it had 6,000 creators on its platform and 26 million users who had signed up to receive text messages.
The company has said its main point of differentiation is enabling influencers and brands to connect with fans directly, without the deterrence of social media algorithms.
It isn't the only company betting on text messaging. Other players in the field include Subtext; SimpleTexting (a division of MessageMedia); and Mailchimp, which last year acquired the text-marketing startup Chatitive.
Community is not the first company at the intersection of tech and media to have layoffs amid a challenging economic climate. In addition to Netflix and Peloton, food content purveyor Food52 laid off 20 of its 200 employees in early April, while celebrity shoutout platform Cameo laid off 87 staffers in May. And creator economy startup Jellysmack laid off 8% of its staff earlier this month.
