LONDON — British digital remittances firm Zepz is shedding dozens of IT employees and is within the means of closing down enterprise items in Poland and Kenya.

Roughly 200 employees members might be impacted by the redundancy measures, two workers who had been made redundant advised CNBC, asking to stay nameless because of the sensitivity of the matter.

As of January, London-headquartered Zepz — previously referred to as WorldRemit — had a worldwide headcount of 1,000 individuals, that means the redundancies have an effect on round 20% of its complete workforce.

The layoffs have an effect on a number of IT features on the firm, together with database administration, improvement operations and software program engineering, the previous workers mentioned.

Zepz confirmed to CNBC that it was lowering headcount so as to “sustainably assist the following section of long-term strategic objectives and continued progress.” The corporate declined to touch upon the variety of workers impacted by the layoffs, with a spokesperson explaining that the redundancy course of was ongoing. 

“Following the profitable completion of its replatforming efforts, bolstered by superior automation and AI, Zepz has launched into a strategic initiative to optimise operations throughout the organisation,” a Zepz spokesperson advised CNBC by electronic mail.

“This transformation has bolstered the know-how basis and decreased the necessity for sure operational and technical capacities, prompting a proposed discount in roles as a part of the general plan,” the spokesperson added.

Zepz has been touted as certainly one of Britain’s fintech darlings. The corporate was based by Ismail Ahmed, a Somalia-born British entrepreneur who fled the nation in the course of the Somali Civil Struggle. Ahmed right this moment serves as the corporate’s non-executive chairman.

The group was renamed Zepz following the acquisition of cash switch platform Sendwave in 2020, with the model and WorldRemit coming beneath one mother or father firm.

This is not the primary time Zepz has lower a spate of roles to avoid wasting on prices. In 2023, Zepz laid off 420 employees, which accounted for about 26% of its world headcount on the time. Later that 12 months, Zepz slashed a further 30 roles throughout its individuals and advertising and marketing features.

Zepz has lengthy been touted as a possible IPO candidate, however a timeline for that is unclear. Counting the likes of Accel, TCV and Leapfrog as traders, the startup was valued at $5 billion in 2021. The corporate introduced a $267 million funding spherical final 12 months.

Zepz faces competitors from a number of notable digital funds gamers together with PayPal, Wise, Revolut and Remitly.

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