Space and defense startup True Anomaly has laid off about 25% of its employees and canceled its summer internship program, TechCrunch has learned.
“With our rapid growth over the past two years, we have looked at all aspects of our company to ensure we are focused on our goals and best positioned to execute,” a company spokesperson said. “We identified duplication of roles and functions across the company and therefore reduced headcount. It doesn't affect our mission.”
TechCrunch was unable to confirm the total number of employees before these cuts, but True Anomaly told the Denver Business Journal that it had more than 100 employees as of December 2023. Nearly 30 people were cut from the workforce, according to a LinkedIn post by one of those laid off.
Employees began posting on LinkedIn about the layoffs on April 24th. According to these messages, those affected worked in sales, business development, and recruiting. At least some interns were abruptly told last Friday, April 19, that their summer internship programs were being canceled. The internship was scheduled to begin on June 1st.
The Centennial, Colorado-based startup closed a $100 million funding round last December. At the time, executives said the company's workforce had swelled to 107 people. Earlier this month, True Anomaly CEO Even Rogers told TechCrunch in the company's first mission interview that the company is “well capitalized.”
True Anomaly wants to modernize space defense with its Jackal spacecraft and Mosaic software platform for command and control operations. The startup envisions using the Jackal in orbit to get close to other objects in orbit, create images, and gather information.
True Anomaly launched its first mission, called Mission did. But this anomaly does little to slow them down. A source told TechCrunch that the company is pushing for at least two more launches within the next 12 months and is aiming for another launch in October.
The person, who has received an internship offer and spoke to TechCrunch on condition of anonymity, said the internship program was canceled because the company did not have the resources to plan and oversee the internship project. He suggested that it may have been. The team is also working on a $30 million responsive space deal that the company signed earlier this month, the person said.