Ava Labs lays off 12% of staff to ‘reallocate resources,’ CEO says

Ava Labs, the main developer of the Avalanche blockchain, laid off 12% of its workforce, its chief said today.

Emin Gün Sirer, founder and CEO of Ava Labs, said in a post on X that the staff cuts allow the firm “to reallocate resources to double down on the growth of our firm and the Avalanche ecosystem.”

“This reduction in force affected 12% of Ava Labs…Bear markets are difficult to navigate,” Sirer wrote. “Ava Labs is fortunate to have significant runway and resources at our disposal, and we will be focusing those resources on advancing the Avalanche ecosystem for years to come.”

Sirer did not specify which company divisions had to reduce their headcounts, but Garrison Yang, Ava Labs’ VP of Growth and Strategy said today in a LinkedIn post that the company has laid off employees in the marketing team.

“Today was the last day at Ava Labs for many people on our world class marketing team,” Yang said in the post. “These are the people who [brought] Avalanche's gaming brand from zero to top of the pack in less than a year… These people have helped Avalanche navigate multiple industry blow ups, a bear market, and countless other challenges.”

The layoff comes after the company said last month that it had hired two Polygon and OKX employees — the firm's first full-time, India-based employees — to grow its business in India.