Streep has laid off some employees who supported TaxJar, which it acquired last year, TechCrunch has learned from multiple sources and direct documentation.
The cuts — which took place last month — are related to Strip’s decision in late July to scale back its market-to-market efforts focused on TaxJar. Sources estimate that between 45 and 55 employees will be affected by the layoffs, with at least a portion of Stripe being asked to take 30 days to apply for internal jobs.
TechCrunch reached out to Stripe for confirmation, and a spokesperson said the company declined to comment. According to LinkedIn, TaxJar co-founder Matt Anderson left Stripe in July, followed by people in the sales, marketing and partnerships teams. Anderson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Stripe bought Taxjar, a cloud-based tax service provider, in April 2021 to help its customers “automate the calculation, reporting and filing of sales tax.” At the time, Streep told TechCrunch that all 200 employees of the Massachusetts-based business were joining the company. The goal of the acquisition was to integrate sales tax collection and cash as a service, one of the most requested features among users.
In July, Stripe went through a 409A review process that reduced its internal valuation by 28 percent. While the wealthy company is valued by investors at $95 billion, the implied new insider stock value is around $74 billion. Valuation reductions are often seen as a negative event for a company – industry experts say the low 409A value, which is set by a third party and is different from what capitalists measure – makes it cheaper for employees to exercise options.
Fintech has not been immune from failure – for proof, you need look no further than the share prices of Block (formerly Square), PayPal, Robinhood and Affirm. Global fintech funds in Q2 2022 fell 33% to $20.4 billion from 1,225 deals in Q2, according to CB Insights, and fell 46% from $37.6 billion raised in 1,287 deals in Q2 2021.
Looking at some of the players in the startup world is a similar story. On Deck, a venture-backed startup accelerator that invests in other companies, recently cut 25% of its staff and expanded its accelerator program. Then, months later, he cut a third of the workforce. MainStreet, itself a layoff, underwent a recapitalization from some investors. The company was valued at $500 million last year for a platform that helps startups get tax credits.
Also, one-click checkout startup Bolt has laid off at least 180 employees and is counting on go-to-market, sales and recruiting roles. That move comes a month after its closest competitor, Express, closed due to a major fire.
Buy now on the last platform, later platform Klarna laid off 10% of the workforce and then reduced the price by 85% – in 2018. From $45.6 billion in July 2021 to $6.7 billion in July this year.
Current and former Stripe and TaxJar employees can contact Natasha Mascarenhas at natasha.m@techcrunch.com or Signal, a secure messaging app, at (925) 271 0912.
