Pebble laying off 25% of staff

Smartwatch company Pebble announced it would lay off 40 employees, or about 25 percent of its total workforce.

The news come roughly a year after the company raised $1 million in 49 minutes toward a Kickstarter campaign that eventually net $20 million from more than 78,000 backers.

Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky blamed the cuts on a slump in investor activity. The company also faces stiff competition in the smartwatch market from Apple, Samsung, Fitbit and traditional watchmakers, according to CNNMoney.

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