In August 2015, Spredfast, an Austin, TX-based developer of social media management software, acquired Madison, WI-based Shoutlet for an undisclosed sum. In a message announcing the deal, Spredfast said that the staff and headquarters of Shoutlet—which sold cloud-based software to help measure the impact of online marketing campaigns—would “become Spredfast’s newest development center.”
Now, a year and a half later, Spredfast says it plans to shut down its Madison operations. In a letter sent to State of Wisconsin officials on Tuesday, Spredfast general counsel Melissa Frugé says that her company plans to close its Madison office in August.
Spredfast is terminating 47 employees as part of the closure, according to the letter. Just under half of them lost their jobs on Tuesday, while the others have been offered the chance to continue working at Spredfast for another six months.
“The closure has been prompted by the company’s decision to reorganize its operations and reduce costs,” Frugé writes in the letter.
Reached by phone Wednesday, Frugé referred questions to Jim Rudden, Spredfast’s chief marking officer. Neither Rudden nor Rod Favaron, the company’s president and CEO, responded to messages seeking additional information on Spredfast’s decision to close its Madison office.
Prior to being purchased by Spredfast, Shoutlet appeared to have raised a total of at least $31.2 million, according to SEC filings and past press releases. The company was founded in 2004 by Jason Weaver, who continued to lead it until 2013. He later left Madison, but returned to join the startup Bad Donkey Social Mobile, as that company announced last year.
Spredfast had more than 500 employees as of June, when it raised $50 million from investors.
Spredfast notice of layoffs by Jeff Buchanan on Scribd
