Coatue-Backed Shopping Startup Lays Off 20% of Staff After Exaggerating Tech Capabilities to Potential Investors

Shopping startup Nate, which touted its use of artificial intelligence–powered checkout technology while it was actually relying on overseas workers to power transactions, has laid off at least 30 of its nearly 150 employees, according to an employee who was at an internal meeting to inform the laid-off workers.

The previously unreported move comes as e-commerce firms have been forced to slash head count this year as online shopping growth has slowed and investor sentiment has soured. Online subscription retailer Stitch Fix laid off 15% of salaried employees earlier this month, and secondhand goods seller StockX cut about 8% of its staffers this week.