Shariah fintech firm Hijra laid-off employees for long term sustainability
Hijra, a Shariah fintech company with offices in Indonesia and formerly known as Alami, has eliminated a number of positions to help it ensure its long-term viability.
The company did not provide a precise breakdown of those affected by what it referred to as a “organization rightsizing,” but it did state that the management faced “the most difficult decision in its history” in making the layoffs.
In a statement, the company said that while it had kept all of its employees on during the Covid-19 crisis, “circumstances have evolved” since then and this has resulted in the layoffs. The startup did guarantee that none of its goods or services would be impacted, though.
Having been established in 2018, Hijra holds licenses for both digital banking, which was introduced in December 2022 under the Hijra Bank entity, and Islamic peer-to-peer lending.
Hijra Bank was formerly known as Cempaka Al-Amin, a rural bank that adhered to Shariah law, which Alami later acquired in 2021. In comparison to the previous three months, the transaction volume at digibank increased by three times in March of this year.
The most recent investment in Hijra came from ParagonCorp in December 2022, bringing the total amount raised to US $67.6 million. According to Hijra, over 10,000 SMEs in Indonesia have received financing totaling about $300 million as of the first quarter of 2023.
