The digital news company Mic has laid off most of its staff, a spokesperson for the company confirmed.
The layoffs were first reported Thursday by Recode.
It is not yet clear exactly how many employees were affected. Mic declined to comment beyond confirming the Recode report.
The company was founded in 2011, and for the past several years has branded itself asa news website geared toward millennials.
Mic Publisher Cory Haik also resigned Thursday. In a note to staff that was obtained by CNN Business, Haik called journalism a “tough business.”
“Our business models are unsettled, and the macro forces at play are all going through their own states of unrest,” she wrote. “If anyone tells you they have it figured out, a special plan to save us all, or that it’s all due to a singular fault, know that is categorically false. Like the truth, it is indeed complicated.”
The layoffs happened just before Bustle Digital Group announced to its staff that the publication acquired Mic. In an email to Bustle staff that was obtained by CNN Business, Bustle founder and CEO Bryan Goldberg said the company plans to “relaunch” Mic.
“There has been a lot of news about Mic today. They have navigated some tough waters in the last year, and today was an especially difficult one,” Goldberg wrote. “Our company is in a unique position to create a bright future for Mic.”
Bustle confirmed the acquisition to CNN Business on Thursday afternoon.
Mic was once a digital media darling, attracting around $60 million in funding from investors. Its biggest backers included Lightspeed Venture Partners, Clark Jermoluk Founders Fund, WPP and WarnerMedia. (WarnerMedia owns CNN.)