Philly-area social media startup LifeBrand lays off entire staff, as CEO says it’s still ‘fully operational’

Eagles. Phillies. A “Shark Tank” investor. Big name partnerships marked LifeBrand’s first several years.

Now the company is grappling with what’s next.

The West Chester-based startup, which provides AI-based social media scanning services to flag undesirable or possibly damaging content, laid off its entire team of 30 last Friday, CEO Thomas Colaiezzi confirmed to Technical.ly.

After falling $9 million short of its funding goals, the company could no longer meet payroll, he said. In fact, Colaiezzi confirmed that the company missed its most recent payroll cycle. However, funding is secured to pay employees on Friday, he said. 

As of right now, the company cannot provide severance to its employees and they will receive a call to discuss extending benefits. The company plans to remain “fully operational” as it slowly brings on a smaller staff of 10-15 employees, according to Colaiezzi.

LifeBrand still promises a path toward profitability

LifeBrand entered 2023 planning to raise a $15 million Series B after it raised a $27 million Series A in 2022, giving the company almost two years of runway. 

The collapse of SVB last spring and a challenging venture market hurt those plans. Despite raising $6 million of the Series B, the company wasn’t able to raise the rest, Colaiezzi said. 

In the next month of two, the company expects to close  investment deals and bring in revenue that would complete its Series B, likely slightly over the $15 million goal, he said. If these deals come through, the money will clear up existing debt obligations, and provide a runway. Colaiezzi expects LifeBrand to be profitable by the end of 2024. 

Updated at 4:45 p.m.