Chipper Cash, a cross-border payment startup with an emphasis on Africa, has let go of some of its staff only a year after it raised $150 million.
Erin Fusaro, Chipper Cash’s Vice President of Engineering, confirmed the development in a LinkedIn post that Nairametrics came across. The layoffs have not been formally confirmed by the company.
As the effects of the economic downturn intensify, Chipper Cash, which is backed by the troubled cryptocurrency exchange FTX, joins the growing list of startups that have reduced their staff.
Although it’s possible that Chipper Cash’s layoffs are related to their partnership with FTX, tech firms around the world have recently been severely impacted by the global economic downturn, which has forced some of the biggest tech giants to lay off large numbers of employees.
Fusaro expressed worry for her coworkers affected by the downsizing even though she was not affected by the layoffs. She also applied for jobs on their behalf through this channel. She wrote:
“This morning a significant amount of Chipper staff were let go in a layoff. While I was not among them, many of my close colleagues and friends were. If you’re looking for talented engineering leadership, engineers, technical program managers, analysts, or IT staff, please comment here and I’ll do my best to start connecting people. To those let go today, please feel free and welcome to DM me, I’ll help you find a soft spot to land if I can.”
Chipper Cash, valued at $2.2 billion in 2021, is one of Africa’s unicorns. The now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX, operated by Sam Bankman-Fried, led a Series C extension round in which the fintech startup raised $150 million last November.
The funding came just six months after SVB Capital, the corporate venture capital arm of SVB Financial Group, led Chipper Cash’s $100 million Series C round. Since its launch, Deciens Capital, Ribbit Capital, and Bezos Expeditions have contributed over $305 million to Chipper Cash as investors.