Check-out payments startup Bolt has become the lastest fintech unicorn to feel the heat of the tech stocks bonfire, setting out plans to sack a third of its workforce, amounting to 250 staff.
News of the layoffs ccomes just months after Bolt raised $355 million at a valuation of $11 billion.
In a letter sent to all staff just 30 minutes before the first employees received their pink slips, Bolt chief Maju Kuruvilla, wrote: "It’s no secret that the market conditions across our industry and the tech sector are changing, and against the macro challenges, we’ve been taking measures to adapt our business. In an effort to ensure Bolt owns its own destiny, the leadership team and I have made the decision to secure our financial position, extend our runway, and reach profitability with the money we have already raised.
"To laser focus on our core business and products, we will be prioritizing our roadmap and making several structural changes. Unfortunately, this includes reducing the size of our workforce and parting ways with some incredibly talented people on our team as of today."
Bolt's actions follow those of BNPL giant Klarna, which has laid out plans to fire over 600 staff and scale back its business from growth at all costs, to a focus on squeezing as much revenue as possible from its existing loan book.