Pebble, the company behind the popular smartwatches, will lay off 40 employees this week, or about 25% of its current staff. CEO Eric Migicovsky put the blame for the layoffs on a more difficult fundraising environment, and while the company did raise money, investors have been a little more cautious.
Pebble will put more of a focus on health, and will expand availability of its products as it looks ahead. From Tech Insider:
Moving forward, Migicovsky said he wants Pebble to focus on the health and fitness aspects of the company's wearables, which he says most users are interested in. The company will also start selling its products in India next month through a partnership with Amazon.
A Pebble spokesperson confirmed to us that the majority of the layoffs were based in the company's San Francisco office, and that all divisions of the company were affected. "This has been a tough day for Eric and the entire team," the spokesperson said.
In recent months, Pebble has been putting more of an emphasis on health and fitness, launching Pebble Health, which offers both activity and sleep tracking. The company also recently made permanent price cuts to its two newest smartwatches, the Pebble Time and the Pebble Time Round.
