Ashton Kutcher-Backed Tech Startup Neighborly Can't Afford To Pay Employees

A technology startup backed by actor Ashton Kutcher can no longer afford to pay its employees.

San Francisco-based tech firm Neighborly reportedly issued the news to employees in an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg News. CEO Jase Wilson told employees Sunday that the company had failed its most recent bid to obtain funding to stay afloat. As a result, he told them to stop working as they could no longer be paid for their services.

“As of tonight, we are not in a position to compensate you,” the memo reads.

Neighborly formed in 2012 to sell municipal bonds in smaller increments as a way to encourage residents to invest in their communities. It accrued funding from different universities and investment companies, including Kutcher’s Sound Ventures in 2015. Kutcher’s company would become a repeat investor from then on, contributing more capital to Neighborly during a fundraiser in 2017. Kutcher has also invested in several other tech startups, such as ResearchGate, a social networking site for researchers and scientists.

Wilson reportedly told Bloomberg in a phone call Monday that the pay stoppage was done so that Neighborly could restructure. He also expressed hope that the company would stay afloat but didn’t answer questions when pressed about bankruptcy.

“We are all aligned on what we need to do, but this still comes with another difficult period of reorganization,” Wilson said in the memo.

Neighborly did not respond to a request for comment from International Business Times.

Neighborly had reportedly been battling funding issues since July, when it announced it would move away from state and local government bonds and would cut a quarter of its employees to stay afloat. It was then announced in August it would be focusing on fiber-optic networks to bring stronger internet to areas that had weaker infrastructures.