Paktor cuts jobs as two key markets slump; sees bright spot in voice dating app

Paktor, a Singapore-headquartered startup running a slew of dating apps and an offline dating agency, has conducted multiple layoffs since 2018, three sources familiar with the company tell Tech in Asia. They also said that the startup has made more cuts this year.

The company’s headcount has fallen from about 250 to 190 between 2018 and 2019, according to ex-staff familiar with the numbers, even as it saw strong growth in Goodnight, its voice-focused dating app.

Paktor’s CEO Shn Juay says that the startup now has around 200 employees. It makes job cuts every year as part of regular operational reviews, she adds.

Photo credit: Paktor.

She admits that Paktor has been “more aggressive this year in terms of the resizing.” It will shed 5% of its workforce by the end of Q1.

“We want to centralize some of our resources in Taiwan, such as marketing and technology,” Juay explains.

Another reason for the cuts is how Covid-19 has dampened business in two of its core markets, Hong Kong and South Korea. In Hong Kong, the political protests also made an impact, the CEO adds.

A third of Paktor’s revenue comes from its offline dating agency, which organizes large-scale events for singles and matches them for one-to-one dates.

These business lines have been hit as the environment made it challenging for people to go on dates or gather in large crowds. All Paktor-run events have also been canceled in the past two months, Juay says.

“We’d book restaurants for couples meeting for the first time. And they’ll arrive, only to find that the restaurant had been closed for the day or the week,” she adds.

Cost-cutting moves

Since 2018, the company has been tightening belts to extend its financial runway: some benefits had been reduced and the regular layoffs made some employees tense.

“People tended to be edgy,” says an ex-employee. “When we did a quarterly town hall where it’s said that the company’s not doing well, people will start to worry if they’re next to go.”

Its cash flow situation improved in the second half of 2019 where it was almost breaking even every month, the person adds. Juay says that Paktor was cash flow-positive in 2019 and most of 2018.

But the company’s cash flow appears to have taken another hit this year, another source tells Tech in Asia.

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