OnePipe lays off employees as leadership team takes salary cuts

OnePipe, the embedded finance startup that lets organisations integrate financial services, has laid off at least ten employees, people close to the situation told TechCabal. On LinkedIn, OnePipe lists 48 employees, which suggests the team is now down to 38 people. The employees who were fired will receive two months of severance pay per the terms of their contract; the company will also slash salaries for its leadership team. Ope Adeoye, the company’s CEO, confirmed the layoffs in an email to TechCabal but did not confirm the number of employees who were fired. 

According to Adeoye, the layoffs were caused by macroeconomic factors. Part of his email said, “Sadly, we are also not immune to the broad industry dynamics and had to say goodbye to a handful of our colleagues yesterday. We are still reeling from the effects, I am sure you can imagine how devastating that can be for any founder or manager. The leadership team and I took a pay cut, not other members of the remaining team.” 

OnePipe was one of the African startups that held deposits in Silicon Valley Bank, and one source said the company had $829,000 in the bank. While the regulators’ decision to protect depositors ensured it would not lose money, sources said the situation prompted more urgency within the company. Adeoye said the company will now focus on specific initiatives and “cut back several experimental projects.”

Per a TechCrunch article announcing OnePipe’s $3.5 million fundraise, “OnePipe’s original game plan was to create an API gateway that connected banks and fintechs under a uniform standard, a move that would allow the company to perform core open banking. But founder and CEO Ope Adeoye (self-described as the company’s chief plumber), on a call with TechCrunch, said upon continuous integration with these financial institutions, it became clear the company needed to pivot since it wasn’t generating many demand cycles.”

Sources close to the situation say that OnePipe will focus on growing its revenues. The company’s inventory finance proposition, built on its core APIs, is one of its fastest-growing products. It has now gotten a credit line from TLG to fund inventory finance for small shops. Beyond this, the company will seek to secure another round of equity financing to extend its runway. 

Today’s layoffs mark the continuation of a challenging year for tech workers globally. This week, Meta disclosed that it would lay off 10,000 workers this year, and on the African continent, there have been several layoffs in the first quarter of the year. Despite a challenging first quarter, all the signs point to the fact that the second quarter will also see more layoffs.