Fintech startup Synapse led by Indian-origin chief executive officer Sankaet Pathak has laid off 40 percent of its workforce, or 86 employees on October 2, 2023, according to a Forbes report. The San Francisco-based company helps startups offer deposit, payment and credit products by acting as a middleman between its clients and their banking partners.
Earlier in June 2023, the founder and executive officer Pathak revealed in a blog post the company had let go of 18 per cent of its workforce as “the current macroeconomic conditions” had begun to impact its clients and platforms, affecting its anticipated growth. By then, he said that the decision "was made with the long-term sustainability and success of our company in mind."
According to the Forbes report, Pathak on September 29, 2023, informed employees that one of the company’s largest customers, business banking platform Mercury, would not be renewing their contract and is instead working directly with its banking partner Evolve Bank and Trust. The official wrote, "Unfortunately, this past week Evolve took shocking and disappointing actions, contradictory to our discussions and inconsistent with our contractual obligations."
Reportedly, affected employees received an email notifying them that the company would be conducting layoffs due to the startup's change in circumstances. As per the mail, employees are not provided with severance payments, and two of the company’s investors, CoreVC and a16z, offered to place employees in positions at other portfolio companies.
The email read, "We deeply regret saying goodbye to incredibly talented and dedicated members of the Synapse team. However, we have a strong group in place to manage all of our operations and support our customers going forward.”
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