Kitopi

Kitopi laid off 93 employees representing approximately 10% of its workforce on 2022-11-21.

In April 2020, the Dubai-based ghost kitchen startup Kitopi laid off 124 employees in New York City, citing the severe business impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company, which had only expanded into New York in late 2019, stated the layoffs were due to "unforeseeable business circumstances" and the need to suspend operations amid the global crisis. While the exact percentage of its total workforce affected is not specified, the cuts occurred shortly after Kitopi secured $60 million in funding to expand in the U.S. This move reflects the broader turmoil in the hospitality and food delivery industry during the pandemic, where even rapidly growing startups faced difficult restructuring decisions.