TLDR:

• Frontdesk, a proptech startup, laid off its entire 200-person workforce in a two-minute Google Meet call.
• The company’s attempts to raise more capital had failed, leading to the layoffs.

Frontdesk, a proptech startup that managed over 1,000 furnished apartments across the US, laid off its entire 200-person workforce on Tuesday. Reason? Their attempts to raise more capital had failed, sources were quoted by TechCrunch as saying.

Frontdesk CEO Jesse DePinto had reportedly fired all the employees on Tuesday afternoon during “a two-minute Google Meet call”. According to one employee who had attended the virtual meeting shared details of the meeting with TechCrunch.

According to the report, Frontdesk CEO Jesse DePinto told employees that the company would be filing for a state receivership, an alternative to bankruptcy, sources said. The company has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Upon calling the number on Frontdesk’s website, a recording says: “Currently, Frontdesk is unavailable. If you have a reservation, please seek alternative accommodations and expect to be contacted within the next two weeks,” TechCrunch reported.

The layoffs, which included full-time and part-time workers and contractors, came seven months after the Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based startup acquired smaller rival Zencity. Frontdesk was founded in 2017. It had raised about $26 million from investors such as JetBlue Ventures, Veritas Investments, and Sand Hill Angels, according to Crunchbase.

The report added that Frontdesk went out for a bridge round, attempting to sell investors on a new plan of doing full building management. However, the plan didn’t work out and the company couldn’t keep operating. “The company was not only not able to make rent on a number of properties but had ‘little to no communication with’ the reportedly infuriated landlords,” sources said.