Google Ventures-backed startup Trada appears to have laid off most of its staff, possibly in anticipation of a closure or sale, a VentureBeat source said.
The industry source, who refused to be identified, said he has reason to believe that the company is either for sale or in bankruptcy. He added that the dismissal was not just a routine layoff.
However, Trada chief executive officer Niel Robertson said in a statement that the layoffs were just part of their changing business model. Robertson also said Trada is not shutting down by any means, but is moving forward instead.
Trada is a search-advertising start up that provides crowdsourced solutions to companies. It has obtained around USD6 million funding from Google Ventures in 2010, VentureBeat said.
Google Ventures is the venture capital investment arm of search engine giant Google Inc.
VentureBeat said that it would be a surprise if Trada was indeed shutting down. The startup nabbed a funding total of USD18 million since 2010. Trada also recently ranked 27th on Inc. 5000's list of the fastest-growing American companies in terms of percentage revenue growth, the report said. Trada generated a revenue of USD12.6 million, based on Inc. Magazine's 5000 list.
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