Strava, the most popular social networking app for endurance athletes and fitness enthusiasts, laid off 38 employees in December 2022. Multiple former Strava employees confirmed the news on LinkedIn. According to a post from an unaffected Strava employee, the layoff equated to 14 percent of the company’s workforce.
The layoffs predated the reported uptick in price for premium features. However, price increases differed across users.
A support article on its website went into further detail, but users were not directly contacted. Beginning on February 2, updated pricing goes into effect for subscribers. However, only subscribers in select regions—which includes Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S.— that purchased a subscription before November 23, 2022 receive a price bump.
Runner’s World reached out to Strava for a comment, but the company has not responded directly. Instead, Strava shared a blog post in attempt to clarify the price changes.
“While our subscription price has largely remained constant for the past years, we also take local market conditions into consideration,” the post reads. “When costs and plans are adjusted, we’re always working to improve your experience and invest in the value delivered to you on a daily basis. Pricing decisions will continuously be evaluated to ensure we are offering the best value of our growing features to our community.”
Strava was founded in 2009 by Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath. According to Crunchbase, Strava has raised a total of $151.9 million from seven rounds of funding. The company raised $110 million during its most recent round, which took place in November 2020. The app has 95 million users according to Business of Apps.
This article has been updated to reflect new information.
Chris Hatler is a writer and editor based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but before joining Runner’s World and Bicycling, he was a pro runner for Diadora, qualifying for multiple U.S. Championships in the 1500 meters. At his alma mater the University of Pennsylvania, Chris was a multiple-time Ivy League conference champion and sub-4 minute miler.
