• Lacework, a cloud-native application security provider, has disclosed that it laid off 20% of its workforce amidst fears of the economic fallout, owing to seismic shifts in both the public and private markets over the past several months. However, the company did not disclose the total number of employees affected by the layoffs. A Twitter claim stating that 300 employees were laid off by Lacework was refuted by the company as a “significant overestimate.”

• The decision comes on the heels of the company’s decision to restructure its business. The company laid off its workers in a bid to increase its cash runway for profitability and significantly strengthen its balance sheet. Lacework has provided those impacted with severance compensation, healthcare coverage, and access to outplacement support.

• Lacework’s customer base increased by 3.5x during 2021. The company went on a hiring spree over the past year, quintupling from 200 employees in January 2021 to more than 1,000 as of March this year, thanks to its massive funding rounds and rapid business expansion.

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: The move comes just six months after Lacework secured one of the largest ever funding rounds in the cybersecurity industry, raising USD 1.3 billion , which valued the company at USD 8.3 billion. This was more than 8x the USD 1 billion sticker price achieved during early-2021. Lacework also became the third most valuable venture-backed cybersecurity firm in the world following Tanium and Snyk.</ul>