Five months after a $55 million Series B, fintech Argyle cuts jobs – TechCrunch

Argyle, which wants to help businesses and institutions access employment records, has laid off a number of employees across all departments, TechCrunch has learned from sources. A company spokesperson confirmed the downsizing to TechCrunch, saying it let go 6.5% of its team, or 20 people.

The figure provided by Argyle does not represent contractors who could have been affected by the layoffs. A spokesperson declined to provide further details on the number of contractors affected, if any, or what severance pay was given to employees, if any.

“Argyle’s continued growth in the upmarket, targeting enterprises rather than SMBs, requires a specific skill set and the company made an adjustment to its team today,” the spokesperson wrote via email. The same spokesperson said the company remains on track to double its workforce by the end of the year, filling more than 30 open positions. Although the spokesperson didn’t say it outright, the statement suggests it is letting go of people with more SMB experience and looking to hire more enterprise-focused people.

The startup raised a $20 million Series A in October 2020, and subsequently revealed that it was processing 10 million user engagements per month. CEO and co-founder Shmulik Fishman said he wanted to disrupt the process by which institutions buy records from third parties, and instead bring user consent into the mix. The aim is to give employees more ownership over their data, and make the whole process more transparent. Fishman hinted at a love for Plaid in an interview that same month, even crediting the startup’s name as a nod to other successful fintechs branded around patterns.

Ironically, however, Plaid has quickly gone from friend to foe. Months after Argyle received Series A funding, Plaid announced the launch of income verification services.

This year, Argyle announced a $55 million Series B funding round and the launch of a self-service tool so consumers can easily access their employment information. The company then claimed that it has experienced “10X growth” compared to the previous round. As last confirmed, Argyle serves over 500,000 US employers, including 60% of the Fortune 500 and “close to 100% of gig workers.”

In its early days, Argyle told FinLedger that its largest customer segment was companies focused on extending credit such as financial institutions, listed banks, credit unions, insurance providers and any company offering “extension of credit in all shapes, forms and sizes.”