Zepz Will Fire 26% Of Its Employees

Zepz, formerly WorldRemit and Sendwave, is laying off 420 workers in London.

The cutbacks represent 26% of Zepz’s 1,600 employees.

Zepz, formerly WorldRemit, raised $292 million in primary funding in August 2021 at a $5 billion valuation.

Accounting difficulties and top management turnover delayed the company’s IPO in July 2018.The corporation was planning to go public in the US in the second quarter at a valuation of up to $6 billion, but “accounting difficulties” in examining and validating accounts delayed the plans.

According to CNBC, Zepz’s customer care and technical departments would be hit hardest by the latest round of layoffs. After WorldRemit’s 2020 acquisition of Sendwave, cost synergies were needed.

“Having hit profitability last year, the Zepz team has been focused on efficient growth and continuing to build a large, sustainable business,” Harry Nelis, a partner at Accel, told CNBC. “Following the acquisition of Sendwave a couple of years ago, the next stage in the integration of the two companies is to remove the duplication of roles across the brands’ locations.”

Sendwave and WorldRemit have 11 million users in 150 countries.

Zepz laid off personnel twice in less than a year. Sky News reported 5% job cutbacks at Zepz in June 2022.