Chipper Cash Lays off 13% of Its Workforce amid Valuation Drop

Cross-border payments startup Chipper Cash, which was co-founded by Ham Serunjogi, a Ugandan and Maijid Moujaled, a Ghanian, laid off nearly 13% of its workforce, according to reports.

The company's Vice President of Engineering Erin Furaso confirmed the development following some employees who took to LinkedIn to reveal that the company was trimming its headcount.

Founded in 2018, the company operates in Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Africa, and Kenya.

Chipper Cash is one of Africa’s high-valued fintechs and offers a no-fee peer-to-peer cross-border payment service in Africa via its app.

Last year, the company raised $150 million in a Series C round led by Sam Bankman-Fried’s now-collapsed cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX, and a few weeks after announcing its acquisition of Zambian fintech company Zoona. 

It’s not clear whether the recent layoffs are related in any way to the recent collapse of FTX.

Having raised substantial amounts last year, Chipper Cash became a unicorn, with a valuation slightly above $2 billion.

Yesterday, TechCrunch reported that its valuation had been slashed from that figure to $1.25bn because of FTX collapse.

Tech-based companies continue to experience layoffs amidst fears of a recession that have seen investors hold tighter onto their money.

Other that have affected the public markets have also contributed to the market’s extreme cash crunch across several organizations.