Chipper Cash cuts more jobs in fourth layoff round
African fintech unicorn Chipper Cash has undergone another round of layoffs, affecting 15 employees across various departments, marking the fourth round of job cuts within a year. The layoffs primarily impacted the company's US team. This follows a previous round of job cuts six months ago, which included the removal of nearly a dozen positions.
While confirming the layoffs, Chipper maintained a positive outlook on its overall performance, expressing confidence in the business's prosperity, stating, "Our business is doing very well and will be profitable in a few months." The company also emphasized its commitment to operational efficiency, citing minor restructuring, and clarified that no roles in Africa were affected.
Sources connected to the company revealed that, in addition to the layoffs, Chipper Cash has reduced the salaries of its remaining US and UK employees. However, the company did not provide further details or context regarding the salary adjustments.
Key Takeaways
Founded in 2018 by Ham Serunjogi and Maijid Moujaled, Chipper Cash initially set out to digitize remittance payments into Africa. Functioning as a cross-border payments service, the company facilitates transactions between eight countries, including Nigeria, South Africa, the UK, and the US. However, the company has faced challenges, including multiple rounds of layoffs. The first round of layoffs occurred in December 2022, merely a year after Chipper Cash raised $150 million in a funding round led by FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto company. In the second round of layoffs, the fintech company let go of over a third of its workforce, affecting 140 employees. Notably, 15% of those laid off were Nigerians, spanning various departments from IT and engineering to leadership roles. The third round of layoffs took place in June and impacted key staff, including the Chief Operating Officer, Alicia Levine, and the Kenya Country Director, Leon Kiptum. The recent round of layoffs, involving 15 employees, represents the fourth within a year, with a particular focus on the company's US team. Despite these challenges, Chipper Cash asserts that its business is performing well and expects to be profitable in the coming months.
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