VSCO is laying off 24 employees as its consumer business takes a hit

Photo editing app VSCO has confirmed that it has laid off 24 employees amid a restructuring drive to refocus the company’s efforts toward creating tools for professional photographers.

In an internal memo seen by TechCrunch, VSCO CEO Eric Whitman said that the company’s consumer business has declined more than expected, and that some new growth initiatives have not produced the results expected. He noted that the company has been EBITDA positive for three of the past four years. Despite the decline in the consumer business, other lines saw growth, even if not to the company’s satisfaction. He also claimed in the memo that the core VSCO app is installed on more US devices than Reddit.

The company told TechCrunch that the layoffs affected the marketing, technology and program management teams.

“Last week, VSCO said goodbye to 24 employees as a result of a company restructuring,” Whitman said in an email statement. “Valued members across all departments have been impacted. Each person who leaves has contributed meaningfully to VSCO and our mission, and we are extremely grateful for their impact. The company is restructuring and adjusting internal processes to be more efficient and effective in driving long-term success and value for photographers.”

“To succeed over the next five years, we need to operate as an AI-driven company, making bold but focused bets and strengthening the foundation we have built through our professional businesses, AI Lab, TFP, and websites,” Whitman wrote in the memo.

VSCO said that to fuel growth, it wants to increase brand awareness as well as work on AI-enabled features across the line. The company plans to work on a revamped AI-based editor, and build an AI assistant that can help users complete tasks through its tools. The startup also plans to redesign its public photo gallery feature, which allows photographers to organize their portfolio and showcase their work.

Last year, VSCO launched a marketplace for Connecting photographers and brands to projects. This year, VSCO has focused on shipping AI-powered products such as Canvas for collaboration and New editing features.

As consumer apps like Canva, Google Photos, and Adobe Lightroom focus on adding AI features to their products, it seems that VSCO may have realized that instead of cutting AI, carving out a niche for itself by providing better tools and a dedicated platform for professional photographers would be a good strategy.