Canadian robotics startup Sanctuary AI cut jobs following the departures of its founding chief executive officer and another co-founder.
The Vancouver-based company, which announced the departure of CEO Geordie Rose on Nov. 9, let go of a number of staff in recent days. Among them was Chief Marketing Officer Benedict Reed, who announced his departure on LinkedIn on Thursday.
“We’re continuously adapting our team structure to position ourselves for future growth and operational efficiency, and the recent changes in our staff composition were not made lightly,” a company spokeswoman said by email in response to a question from Bloomberg.
One person familiar with the company said about 30 people were affected, including managers, technicians, and marketing and communications staff. The person asked not to be named because the matter is still private. The company declined to comment on headcount questions, citing privacy policies.
Sanctuary had raised C$140 million ($99 million) as of early July, according to a company statement, with a blue-chip list of investors including Verizon Ventures, Magna International Inc., BCE Inc. and BDC Capital’s Thrive Venture Fund. It faces competition in the humanoid robot race from deep-pocketed rivals such as Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. and Jeff Bezos-backed Figure AI.
A serial entrepreneur, Rose had already started a new company called Snowdrop Quantum Applications Corp. earlier in 2024. He lamented the state of Vancouver’s tech scene on social media site X last month.
Suzanne Gildert, a Sanctuary co-founder and former chief technology officer, left the company in April and started a new AI company called Nirvanic Consciousness Technologies.
Sanctuary’s corporate name is Sanctuary Cognitive Systems Corp.
(Source: Bloomberg)
