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Citizen laid off 33 staff on Wednesday, the company confirmed to TechCrunch.
“We would like to thank all of our retired team members for their contributions to Citizen, including accelerated option vesting and extended exercise periods, six-month COBRA payments, career services support, and other benefits,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch.
Citizen did not share which divisions of the company were affected. One of his laid-off employees told TechCrunch he had at least 10 engineers laid off.
Released in 2016, the app was initially banned from the App Store due to vigilante concerns. At that time it was called Vigilante. Citizen currently uses public police blotters to notify users of confirmed incidents in their area, but users can also upload their own reports of suspicious activity or live stream from crime scenes. You can also
Since its launch, Citizen has generated approximately $30.3 million in consumer spending and over 14 million downloads, according to data from app analytics firm SensorTower. The privately held company recently raised $73 million in Series C funding in early 2021. This included his $23 million convertible bond.
Citizen has been criticized for fostering a culture of surveillance that leads to racial profiling and harassment. Another neighborhood social app, Nextdoor, presents a similar problem. But the most egregious example of these dangers came from the company CEO himself: In 2021, Andrew Frame will ask Citizen users to track down suspected arsonists while live-streaming on the Citizen app. offered his $30,000. He shared a photo of the suspect on his live feed and got 800,000 views, but it turned out he was the wrong guy. We saw it as an elaborate marketing opportunity for the livestream feature.
In a statement at the time, the company said, “We deeply regret our mistake and are working to improve our internal processes to ensure that this does not happen again.
Later that year, Citizen launched a service called Protect. For $20 a month, the user gets her 24/7 access to a “protection agent” to connect with first responders and law enforcement. Critics, however, question whether Citizen’s warnings are fueling panic and fear more than keeping people safe.
SensorTower data shows that in-app purchases on Citizen increased 17% year-over-year after the introduction of Protect. But Citizen’s 2022 app monthly spending averaged $1.4 million, not enough to generate revenue for the company. Citizen didn’t share its reasons for implementing the layoffs, but it was able to give the company a little more runway by letting go of 33 employees. We are looking for.
Current and former Citizen employees can contact Amanda Silberling at Signal, a secure and encrypted messaging app, at 929 593 0227. She can also send her DMs on Twitter. @asilbwrites.
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