a16z-backed fintech Synapse lays off 40% of its staff
Banking-as-a-service startup Synapse confirmed today that it has laid off 86 people, or about 40% of the company.
The San Francisco-based company, which operates a platform enabling banks and fintech companies to easily develop financial services, has been open about past layoffs. In June, CEO Sankaet Pathak wrote in a blog post that the company had let go of 18% of its workforce as “the current macroeconomic conditions” had begun to impact its clients and platforms, affecting its anticipated growth.
Today, via email, a company spokesperson sent the following statement: “We deeply regret saying goodbye to incredibly talented and dedicated members of Synapse team. However, we have a strong group in place to manage all of our operations and support our customers going forward. We don’t have anything to add to this right now beyond what’s been previously reported.”
Earlier this week, Fintech Business Weekly publisher Jason Mikula posted on X that “one of the company’s largest clients, Mercury, gave notice of non-renewal & plans to move directly to Evolve.” He had also heard that the company was actually laying off at least 130 people.
In 2019, TechCrunch reported on the company’s $33 million Series B raise led by Andreessen Horowitz after rebranding from SynapseFi. That was the company’s last known fundraise. In total, it has brought in just over $50 million in venture capital.
The startup was founded in 2014 by Bryan Keltner and India-born CEO Sankaet Pathak, who came to the U.S. to study but grew frustrated at the difficulty of opening a bank account without U.S. social security history.
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