African cross-border payments startup, Chipper Cash has embarked on yet another round of layoffs.
This is its fourth time in one year.
The company laid off 15 people across all departments in this fourth round of layoffs. No roles in Africa were affected.
Chipper Cash’s first round of layoffs came in December 2022.
It was just a year after the company had raised $150 million in a Series C extension round. The round was led by the now-bankrupt FTX.
The layoff was a 13% headcount reduction.
The process affected 50 employees from the Product, Marketing, and Compliance departments.
The second round of layoffs was in February 2923, affecting over a third of its workforce.
The wave swept off 140 employees from IT, engineering leadership, engineers, technical programme managers, and analysts.
15% of those were Nigerians.
June 2023 recorded the third occurrence of layoffs in the company. It impacted several product managers, the company’s COO, Alicia Levine, and Kenya Country Director, Leon Kiptum.
On this fourth round of job cuts, the company said “we constantly look to ensure we have as much efficiency as possible within our global organisation.”
Sources also reported a cut in the salaries of remaining US and UK staff in the company.
After raising $150 million in a Series C extension round in 2021, the startup’s valuation came to over $2 billion. This reportedly dropped to $1.25 billion before FTX’s bankruptcy.
In the last two years, Chipper Cash has received hits from events involving two of its lead investors; FTX and Silicon Valley Bank (SVB.
The company reportedly considered a sale in March this year, after Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) shut down.
Some even fear that the startup could lose its unicorn status
The fintech startup however insists it is doing very well and will be profitable in a few months.
