Fintech company, Brass, has announced plans to temporarily disengage an unspecified number of its staff in the coming days citing the current economic realities as the cause.
The company’s CEO, Sola Akindolu announced the move on Monday. Akindolu said the startup launched about four years ago had raised $2 million over the period to build and grow through the changing times.
However, he said the current economic realities have made things difficult, impacting its plans.
Per its LinkedIn profile, Brass currently has about 50 employees. It is unclear yet how many of these will be furloughed.
Change in economy
Stating how the downturn in the economy has impacted the company and led to its decision to disengage some of the company’s staff, Akindolu said:
- “For almost 4 years since we launched, we have been building best-in-class financial products for Nigerian businesses, and have since then, extended our services to individuals and families.
- “We have added some of the kindest and smartest people I have been privileged to work with, and they have all played important roles in building today’s Brass.
- “In the last few months, however, the local economy has really changed significantly, impacting our plans.
- “Over the next couple of days, Brass will be moving some of its employees to furlough as it resets itself and rebuilds for the current economic realities. This is really sad for us.”
Akindolu added that the company would continue to provide impacted workers with health insurance coverage and other benefits during the trying times until it can bring them back to work with the company.
Support for the affected staff
The Brass CEO said the company’s employee experience lead, alongside co-founder and CTO, will be leading the process with one-on-one calls and ensuring the company provides every kind of support to everyone impacted.
- “I am also going to be available to provide reference calls for our impacted colleagues looking for new opportunities elsewhere.
- “We will continue to do our best to build a great business and be responsible to everyone that’s been a part of our process of building a company we can all be proud of, for helping us to defend and support the business,” he said.
What you should know
Brass is a Nigerian fintech addressing the payment challenge of small enterprises in Nigeria by providing them with the full suite of financial services needed to scale their operations.
Sola Akindolu and Emmanuel Okeke founded Brass in July 2020. Before Brass, CEO Akindolu was the head of product at YC-backed Kudi, while CTO Okeke was an engineering manager at Stripe subsidiary Paystack.
In October 2021, the company secured a $1.7 million funding round to scale its offerings for “local entrepreneurs, traders, and fast-growing businesses.”
The mission to make banking work for small businesses was one reason why pan-African VC firm Ventures Platform invested in the company, according to its founder and general partner, Kola Aina.
Other investors include Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, Paystack co-founder Ezra Olubi, Hustle Fund, Acuity Ventures and Uncovered Fund. Previous backers include Olumide Soyombo of Voltron Capital, Leonard Stiegler, and Fola Olatunji-David.
