Roofstock, a Bay Area real estate tech startup valued at nearly $2 billion, said Thursday that it would lay off 20% of its staff — days after the company announced that it conducted its first NFT sale of a single-family home.
A spokesperson for the unicorn company told SFGATE Thursday that it conducted layoffs, but did not specify if employees will receive severance pay or health care benefits — an industry standard — or how many employees were affected.
Roofstock’s business model is “remote real estate investing,” essentially letting people buy single-family properties in smaller, less expensive areas to rent out.
“Like many, we have been closely monitoring the economic environment and are making appropriate adjustments to be responsive to current market conditions,” a spokesperson told SFGATE. “As a result, we made the difficult decision to let go of approximately 20% of our workforce.”
The business model is arguably a contentious one, especially as home ownership becomes less accessible in part due to investors buying up homes to rent out. A Stateline report from July found that a quarter of homes sold in 2021 were bought by investors.
In an April feature published by the Real Deal, Roofstock CEO Gary Beasley disputes any concerns that its technology could make it harder for people in these target areas to become homeowners.
“We’re creating more liquidity and transparency and bringing down costs, which ultimately benefits investors of all sizes,” he told the outlet.
The company has also recently entered the NFT game. It announced Tuesday that it sold a home in Columbia, South Carolina, on the blockchain — the first sale “with onchain financing” using U.S. currency and not a cryptocurrency.
Read More:Controversial Bay Area tech unicorn Roofstock lays off 20%
2022-10-21 21:37:08
