Singapore fintech startup with Russian roots Osome laid off part of its team

As the publication writes, the company had to say goodbye to 75 employees out of 500. These data were also confirmed by Viktor Lysenko. He explained this step due to the economic crisis and the general situation of the venture capital market.

“Two years ago, the only thing that mattered was growth. Now all investors aim for startups to reach profitability as quickly as possible,” explained the company’s co-founder.

In its most recent investment round late last year, Osome was able to raise $25 million from various venture capital funds. In particular, the funds were provided by the international company Illuminate Financial, the Asian AFG Partners and Winter Capital, associated with Vladimir Potanin’s Interros.

At that time, 11,000 users in Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom had already become Osome customers. Lysenko hoped to achieve operating profits in the near future.

However, this year the startup’s revenue increased by a third, Lysenko says, and plans to turn a profit have been postponed until next year.

According to a source close to one of the startup’s investors, after the December round the new shareholders expected to see intensive product development and new markets. Related to this is the company’s investment in further growth.

Osome is currently following the trend of cost reduction that, according to the publication’s interlocutor, has been observed in the market for a year and a half. According to him, the company has begun to “dry up more actively,” but will maintain its plans to reach profits in 2024.

Another source says that the layoffs are related to the failure of a new investment round, but Lysenko does not confirm this version and denies that the round has not taken place.

The source, in turn, points out the unprofitable business model of the project, which forces them to “cut the bones.”

It was previously known that four venture funds launched the Pre-seed to Succeed program for startups at an early stage. Projects will be able to attract their first round of investment and receive 50% of the same participants in the next round.