Fresh off of a security blunder last month, real estate data firm Remine announced Monday that it had laid off 38 employees in order to complete its pivot to becoming a multiple listing service vendor, but rumors are swirling about the firm’s financial situation.
A year ago, Remine laid off 42 members of its sales team in what the company said was a “strategic decision to double down” on its MLS business, not a result of financial struggles. Those layoffs came about a month after the company announced that it had raised $30 million in a series A funding round and would use the funding to roll out an “MLS 2.0” platform.
Remine is framing Monday’s layoffs as an attempt to “complete” that change in its business model.
“Over the past few months, we spent time reflecting on our need to change, talked extensively with our customers about their needs, and then took a long hard look at how we were organized. What we discovered was that we had become a little heavy in some areas of the organization and too lean in others,” Remine said in a post titled “A New Way Forward” on its website.
“It was clear to us that we needed to complete our pivot towards being a full enterprise MLS vendor by restructuring and realigning the organization.”
In the wake of the layoffs, Inman has been hearing unconfirmed reports from readers who prefer to remain anonymous that, despite its funding infusion last year, the company is running out of money and the layoffs are an attempt to both stay afloat and position the company for a sale to venture capital-funded brokerage Compass. Compass declined to comment on whether it had met with Remine to explore a possible acquisition or whether it was considering an acquisition.
A reader who reached out via email noted that the layoffs came with “no warning” and “extremely low severance” of two weeks.
Remine’s post positions the layoffs as way to improve the company’s efficiency.
“Moving forward, we’ll continue to provide the market with the innovative solutions real estate professionals need. We will streamline our focus and be more disciplined in setting priorities that make the most sense for us and our customers,” the post said.
“With an innovative technology platform, a strong market share, and a repeatable business model — we will focus on product refinement and elevating our marketing, awareness, training, support, product implementation, and professional services.
“Better aligning ourselves with our vision will help us be a stronger, more efficient company that is better suited to meet the needs of the MLS and the industry.”
Inman asked Remine which departments the layoffs were in, how many employees the company has now, whether there will be any product changes as a result of the layoffs, whether it had met with Compass to explore a possible sale of the company, whether the layoffs were a result of Remine running out of money, and for the results of the cybersecurity investigation it was conducting after a third party found a vulnerability that allowed anyone outside of the company to register an account to log in, potentially accessing personal information of renters and sellers.
Inman also asked why three Remine executives had recently left: Andrew Sheh, CTO; Jeff Lord, executive vice president and general counsel; and Rikki Williams, vice president of finance and accounting.
Remine spokesperson Quinn Nichols said Remine would respond Tuesday morning. Remine has not responded.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to note that Remine has not responded to Inman’s questions.
Email Andrea V. Brambila.
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