African challenger bank Kuda has joined the list of tech firms in Africa that has laid off employees.
Kuda acknowledged the layoffs by email according to TechCrunch, stating that it only affected roughly 23 employees or less than 5% of its 450-person staff.
The company’s numbers pale in comparison to other layoffs that have occurred recently within Africa’s tech ecosystem, particularly among startups that have recently raised significant amounts of venture capital.
For example, Swvl laid off 400 employees; Wave laid off about 300; Vezeeta laid off 50 and 54gene laid off 95.
The event, however, highlights the variety of efforts that entrepreneurs, including soonicorns and unicorns, are doing. In the case of Kuda, it’s not altogether unexpected, despite the company’s hiring frenzy for designers in July.
In light of recent macroeconomic trends, sources claim that Kuda’s town hall meeting last month covered subjects such as eliminating tasks that appear redundant, firing underperforming employees, and prolonging runway.
The digital bank, which charges zero to minimal fees for cards, account maintenance, and transfers, secured $55 million in a Series B round last August, valuing it at $500 million.
With the money, it planned to expand beyond Nigeria and get ready to launch in Ghana and Uganda, among other African nations. The challenger bank has secured over $90 million from investors
It recently hired ex-Tinkoff executive, Pavel Khristolubov, as its global chief operating officer and former Revolut executive in Europe, Elena Lavezzi, as chief strategy officer to oversee its Pakistan expansion and expand its more than 4 million customer base
Kuda describes the recent reduction in its employment as one of the strategic moves for long-term growth as it positioned itself for pan-African and worldwide expansion amid an unsteady venture capital environment.
According to the four-year-old business, “Kuda is now undertaking some strategic improvements to serve its consumers better and continue to make financial services more accessible, inexpensive, and rewarding to every African.”
In the email, Kuda claimed that the corporation has made significant workforce reductions in a number of divisions. This covers the growth, marketing, and product teams, sources claim.
Swvl, Vezeetea, Wave, Sendy, Market Force, 54 Gene and now Kuda. Which African startup is next?
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