FTX-backed African Fintech Chipper Cash’ Valuation Falls to $1.25B

• Chipper Cash has also laid off as many as 50 workers.
• The $35 million investment from FTX is reportedly the cause of the fintech’s value decline.

The valuation of Chipper Cash, one of the numerous African fintech businesses funded by the now-defunct FTX, fell from $2 billion to $1.25 billion after the company received investment from the now-defunct crypto exchange. Even as this news broke, reports emerged that Chipper Cash had laid off as many as 50 workers.

Chipper Cash, founded in 2018, by Ham Serunjogi and Maijid Moujaled, raised $150 million in a Series C expansion round backed by FTX, increasing its worth to more than $2 billion. The firm has previously secured $100 million in a Series C round of funding.

FTX Collapse After Effects

The $35 million investment from FTX is reportedly the cause of the fintech’s value decline. Reports state that Chipper Cash required the fresh money in the form of a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) grant in order to function in light of the current harsh socioeconomic climate.

Erin Fusaro, VP of engineering at Chipper Cash, followed a trend that seems to have been embraced by fintech when they lay off employees. Erin encouraged digital companies wanting to hire bright people to consider her former colleagues.

Erin stated:

“This morning [Dec. 5] a significant amount of Chipper staff were let go in a layoff. While I was not among them, many of my close colleagues and friends were. If you’re looking for talented engineering leadership, engineers, technical program managers, analysts, or IT staff,” Fusaro said in a Linkedin post, “please comment here and I’ll do my best to start connecting people.”

Several fintech in Africa have made similar requests to larger, more established competitors in the field to explore hiring away some of their personnel.

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