Five employees from Cowrywise, a Nigerian fintech company funded by YC that allows retail consumers to invest in mutual funds, have been let go from the company’s customer success, engineering, and marketing departments.
According to TechCabal, “The company said the terminated roles no longer aligned with the company’s direction.”
“Internal restructuring and evolving business needs were the reason for the layoffs.”
The 50-person company Cowrywise acknowledged that five positions were eliminated after an annual performance assessment, but it maintains that no layoffs occurred.
As part of their parting packages, the affected employees received three months’ salary instead of the one month’s income specified in their contract. This was an uncommon action for those sacked for poor performance.
Since its founding in 2017 with a savings feature, Cowrywise—a member of the YC Summer 2018 batch—has expanded to offer consumers in Nigeria a variety of investment choices. Cowrywise was founded by Edward Popoola and Razaq Ahmed. The startup, according to TechCrunch, has over 220,000 subscribers and raised $3 million in January 2021 in a pre-Series A fundraising round led by Quona Capital.
The Securities and Exchange Commission , Nigeria’s capital markets regulator, granted it a license to function as a fund manager in 2021. At least 20% of all mutual funds in the nation are listed on the company’s platform, and investors can select among 19 SEC-licensed mutual funds, according to its website.
