Francis Davidson was the former CEO and co-founder of SonderThis week, Janice Sears, the chairperson of board at the company was named interim CEO.
Writing on LinkedInDavidson announced that he was leaving Sonder.
He wrote: “Building Sonder is an epic story. The journey began with a college student experiment that grew to $143,000,000 in revenues within five years. It continued through the COVID failure and the reshaping the American city.
Sonder was established in 2014 by Davidson Picard. The company had grown successfully for five successful years before it was hit by the pandemic.
Early 2022, the company will launch its new product. went public via special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). A few months later, the restructuring resulted in cuts within the corporate and frontline teams.
The following year (March 2023) will be a Sonder laid off 100 corporate employees The company lost 14 per cent its staff. In the same year, the firm also faced a potential Nasdaq delisting As its common stock fell below $1.00 per Share for 30 consecutive days.
Then, in February 2024. announced that it was cutting 106 jobs in its corporate team – representing 17 per cent of the company’s corporate workforce – in order to save around $11 million a year in the long term.
Davidson added, “Because of the many properties we had already signed up before the pandemic, our company grew to over 600 million dollars in annual revenue and has made steady progress towards profitability.” “Maybe aligning ourselves with a large hospitality group was the best answer?”
Sonder has announced that it will be launching a new product in the summer of 2024. 20-year licensing agreement with MarriottRebranding to Sonder by Marriott Bonvoy. Integration, which started an early access in October 2024 is now complete.
Davidson added: “I’m a builder at heart – I thrive in the early stages of company formation, when growth and customer experience are the top objectives. It will be tough to leave behind a team of talented people and a brand that I’ve built my whole adult life.
“Without my co-founders and my teammates, without my investors and without our countless partners none of this would have been feasible.” “A huge and heartfelt thanks to everyone who has been a part of this epic story.”
Highlights:
• Francis Davidson has resigned as Sonder CEO after leading the company from startup to more than $600 million in annual revenue.
• Sonder went public via SPAC in early 2022 and underwent major layoffs in 2023 and 2024.
• Most recently, Sonder rebranded as Sonder by Marriott Bonvoy following a 20-year strategic licensing deal with Marriott.
• Board chair Janice Sears will serve as interim CEO.
