London fintech Paddle, valued at $1.4 billion as of last May's $200 million series D round, has been forced to dismiss 8% of its 350 or so staff to streamline its cost structure in the ongoing downturn.
The company, which offers "complete payments infrastructure for SaaS" billing, blames the layoffs on a reverse from the more favourable COVID-era trading environment for SaaS coupled with sharp inflation, as the economy adjusts following the pandemic.
Only a few months ago Tech.eu spoke to Paddle's Jimmy Fitzgerald, president and COO, about the startup buying up a business intelligence provider, ProfitWell, for $200 million and the latest news just proves how quickly sentiment can sour at the moment.
Paddle broke the news to departing employees discreetly, issuing an email and follow-up call if desired, and in terms of severance the final pay packet should amount to 13 weeks in addition to accrued holiday time.
In a company memo published on LinkedIn, Paddle founder and CEO Christian Owens wrote: "During COVID we were beneficiaries of the world shifting to a more remote, and digital way of working.
"Many software companies moved to Paddle, including those who had never sold globally before, and the software companies we already worked with saw incredible levels of growth as the world adopted their policies.
"The world is now undergoing another change: inflation, as a result of our collective COVID response, higher interest rates, and a shift in investor sentiment away from growth technology companies. We're starting to see how this impact not just Paddle, but all of our customers too."
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