Fintech company Paddle, which is based in London and helps software companies set up payment systems, is letting go of about 8% of its staff to “adapt to what will be leaner times in the future.”
Christian Owens, the company’s founder and CEO, sent a memo to employees last week telling them about the decision. He has since posted the memo on LinkedIn.
Owens writes the following to explain why the cuts were made: “During COVID, we were able to take advantage of the fact that the world was moving toward a more remote and digital way of working.
“The world is going through another change right now: inflation, which is a result of our collective response to COVID, higher interest rates, and a change in how investors feel about growth technology companies. We’re starting to see how this change will affect all of our customers, not just Paddle.
Owens says, “The world is starting to change, and we need to change along with it.”
“In 2023, we need to set high but attainable goals and work hard to control and lower our costs,” he says.
Paddle combines the processes for checkout, payment, managing subscriptions, billing, international taxes, and financial compliance into one platform.
In May of last year, KKR led a Series D funding round that brought in $200 million. This brought the company’s value up to $1.4 billion. In a deal worth more than $200 million in cash and stock, the company bought ProfitWell at the end of that month. ProfitWell makes software for measuring subscriptions and keeping customers.
Owens ends by saying that the layoffs will help the company “ride out the storm and help our customers do the same.”
Paddle is the latest financial and tech company to announce layoffs in the last few months. This is because inflation, interest rate hikes, the invasion of Ukraine, wider market uncertainty, and a looming global recession are all having a negative effect on the sector.
