SNEAK PEEK
- Gary Vaynerchuk and Mike Novogratz-backed sports NFT startup Candy Digital laid off a majority of its staff.
- The reason for the layoff of around ⅓ of the company’s entire team has not been cited yet by any of the officials.
- This came following an announcement that Candy Digital raised $100 million at a $1.5 billion valuation.
In a recent revelation, it has surfaced that Candy Digital, a startup based in the sports and entertainment genre, has laid off ⅓ of its staff today. The company was backed by Gary Vaynerchuk and Mike Novogratz and was founded in 2021. It should be noted that the company managed to surge to a valuation of $1.5 billion.
Matthew Muntner, a former employee, Community Content Manager, shared a tweet that he was involved in the departures. Muntner wrote in his official tweet that he was part of the layoff even though he loved his job at Candy Digital a lot. He even addressed the fact that his time at Candy Digital was one hell of a ride.
I hate that I have to share this as much as I loved my job at @CandyDigital but I was part of the layoffs that occurred earlier today.
— Muntner (@muntnerdesigns) November 28, 2022
I am quickly looking for a new role in Community Management, Graphic Design, or related Marketing.
Thanks, Candy Fam for one hell of a ride ❤️
Well, it should be noted that no official revelation has been revealed by the concerned entities. The foundation of Candy Digital was laid in June 2021 by the Executive Chairman of sports merchandise giant Fanatics, Michael Rubin. This was done in association with Mike Novogratz, the CEO, and Gary Vaynerchuk, an entrepreneur, and investor.
At the time of the foundation, Fanatics was described as the majority owner and revealed that it would strive to tap its existing customer base in order to promote Candy.
Back in October 2021, Candy Digital made an announcement that they had managed to raise $100 million at a $1.5 billion valuation in a Series A round spearheaded by Vision Fund 2 of Softbank and Insight Partners.
Well, it should be noted that Candy was launched with the official Major League Baseball Licence and has managed to sell a number of collections on the basis of the league and its teams. Since then, the company has carried out the roll-out of other sports licenses, involving an association with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), all of the teams of NASCAR.
