Based on employee performance, India-based Open, a unicorn digital bank backed by Temasek in Singapore, has let go of 47 employees.
The company’s founders have also reduced their compensation by 50% as part of efforts “to brace for scale and profitability.” The business emphasizes that none of its employees’ salaries have been cut, though.
In a statement, Anish Achuthan, co-founder and CEO of Open, claimed that performance reviews were the only factor that “driven solely” the staffing changes. Giving high performers, on average, 20% to 30% pay increases and employee stock ownership plans are also part of the effort.
He notes that Open is “one of the very few startups with visibility on profitability and runway above 30 months”. For positions in growth marketing, product development, and sales, the company is still hiring.
Open reached unicorn status in May of last year after raising $50 million USD. Crunchbase data indicates that the company has raised about US $190 million in funding. Other well-known global backers include Google, Tiger Global, and SBI Investment in addition to Temasek.
The 2017-founded neobank provides assistance to SMEs with their banking needs. Additionally, Open provides tools to assist these companies in managing their accounting and payment procedures online.
