Tickertape, the fintech startup, has laid off 29 employees, or nearly 30% of its workforce, as part of an internal restructuring process. The company’s LinkedIn page currently shows that it has 100 employees.
The retrenchments were an unfortunate but necessary step in the firm’s path to become financially sustainable, according to Tickertape founder and CEO Ujjwal Ankur, who described the layoffs as one of the most difficult days for him professionally. Ankur stated that the 29 employees are immediately available to join other companies across multiple verticals, without mentioning the teams impacted by the layoffs. Ankur also reached out to fellow cofounders online for hiring the impacted employees.
Tickertape, which offers a one-stop platform for tools and services that enable investors to delve deeper into stocks, ETFs and mutual funds, was founded in 2015. It operated as an entity of fintech startup Smallcase till November 2021 when it raised $5m and was spun off as a separate entity in the same year. The layoffs are likely the result of mounting losses and the ongoing funding winter in the Indian startup ecosystem. Tickertape raked up a loss of INR 16.4 Cr in FY22, while its revenue stood at INR 3.01 Cr.
Tickertape is the latest fintech startup to fire employees in recent months. Neobanking platform OPEN fired 47 employees, while buy-now-pay-later soonicorn Simpl fired 120-150 employees. Teen-focused fintech platform FamPay also witnessed multiple top-level exits while it culled its workforce by 50. Fintech ZestMoney was also said to be laying off nearly 30% of its workforce as part of a cost-cutting exercise after its planned acquisition deal with PhonePe fell through.
Although fintech continues to be the choice of sector for investors, global macroeconomic headwinds, coupled with adverse market conditions, have dried up funding. Many fintechs have resorted to mass layoffs and shelving expansion plans in a bid to consolidate operations and focus on profitability.
