Israel trip planning application Moovit This evening employees reported a wave of layoffs. There will be layoffs across all departments of up to 20-25 employees, which represents 10% of the company's 225 employees. This is the first round of layoffs at Moovit since the company was sold to Intel in 2020 for $1 billion — and one of the largest exits ever for an Israeli app.
The announcement comes after veteran co-founder and CEO Nir Erez became chairman three months ago and was replaced as CEO by Nir Bezalel.
Provides solutions in 100 countries
Moovit was founded 13 years ago as an app designed to help people plan their public transit trips, combining different modes of transportation including trains, light rail systems, buses and scooters with scheduling of transfers between them. In March, when Erez stepped down as CEO, Moovit said it served more than 1 billion passengers daily in more than 100 countries, and that in the past year, “the company's revenues have peaked and the number of global users has surged.”
“2023 was the best year in terms of revenue and active users,” Bezalel said upon his appointment. “We are emphasizing revenue from the consumer side in several channels and we are already on our way to profitability this year.” Layoffs will help the company achieve this goal. Moovit currently generates revenue from advertising on the free app, a revenue stream that began 30 months ago.
Intel acquired Moovit in 2020 as part of a strategy to provide autonomous travel services including autonomous taxis (Robotaxis) under sister company Mobileye. But at the same time, the dream of robotics has not come true, while Mobileye's renewed independence from Intel has changed the picture for Moovit as well. Today, most of Moovit's revenue comes from advertising, with a small stream from subscriptions, and from local authorities that use the app to operate transit services.
The company said: “Moovit is making the necessary adjustments in order to focus on the company’s core business and accelerate the transition to profitability. The company will do everything in its power to support employees who will be affected by this move. Moovit will continue to invest in expanding its suite of solutions for private users and companies in the field of mobility and other areas.” , in order to achieve its business strategy.
Published by Globes, Israel Business News – en.globes.co.il – on June 16, 2024.
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