Fred Lalonde, founder and CEO of Hopper, poses for a photograph at their company offices in Montreal on Monday, October 1, 2018.One of Canada’s largest private technology companies, Hopper Inc., has cut 30 per cent of its full-time staff in an effort by the online travel services provider to reach profitability.
Mr. Lalonde said cuts were primarily to “experimental” products and services Hopper hadn’t launched yet and that none of its offerings in market would be affected. The company will pull back on marketing in some territories, including in Asia, where its eponymous consumer travel-booking app still hasn’t yet gained many customers. But it is continuing to invest in fast-growing areas of its business including expanding lodging offerings.
Hopper’s 250 job cuts, announced at the company Tuesday, are greater in absolute terms than when it cut nearly 50 per cent of its then-340 employees early in the pandemic. The Montreal company joins a slew of other Canadian early-stage technology companies that have made significant cuts to staff this year, including Paper,, Hootsuite, Ritual, Symend, Clutch and Clearco. Shopify, Canada’s most valuable technology company, cut 20 per cent of staff in May, after cutting 10 per cent last year.
But Hopper has distinguished itself from other online travel companies by offering a unique set of high-margin ancillary financial products for travelers built using machine learning that leverages vast data sets obtained from travel booking systems.
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