Earnipay, a financial technology (fintech) solution that provides flexible and on-demand salary access to income earners, has laid off a part of its workforce.
The company’s CEO Nonso Onwuzuike describes the move as a “difficult but necessary” decision, noting that it is part of a strategic shift toward business lending, the company’s most profitable segment.
While the number of laid-off staff was not disclosed, Earnipay will offer affected employees two months’ salary as severance, HMO coverage through year-end, subsidized access to work laptops, and job-seeking support. “This decision does not reflect your contributions”, the CEO said. “You have helped build Earnipay into what it is today.”
Amidst the shake-up of its workforce, the remaining staff have been urged to rally around the company’s new leaner vision, stabilizing operations and focusing on profitability.
Earnipay’s layoff of part of its workforce also reflects a wider downturn in African startup funding. In 2024, startups on the continent raised $2.01 billion, marking a 31% drop from $2.9 billion in 2023 and a steep decline from over $4 billion in 2022.
Although fintechs still led in funding, securing $882.43 million, access to capital has become more selective, especially for startups without a clear path to profitability. Nigeria, Earnipay’s home market, raised only $331.52 million in 2024, trailing behind Kenya and South Africa. This funding squeeze has pushed several startups which include Kuda, and Chipper Cash to implement layoffs and restructuring to extend their financial runway.
With no guarantee of raising additional capital, Earnipay is scaling back non-core services and doubling down on business lending, its primary revenue driver.
Notably, Earnipay downsizing of its workforce comes after three years when it raised $4 million to scale its operation in Africa and provide on-demand salaries to workers. The funding round was led by Canaan, with participation from XYZ Ventures, Village Global, Musha Ventures, Ventures Platform, Voltron Capital, and Paystack.
According to the company it disclosed to use the seed funding to accelerate the development of its technology platform to save large enterprise employers. By doing so, it will provide employees with the tools they need to make better financial decisions and improve the quality of their life.
However, this rapid expansion came at a high financial cost. According to Onwuzulike, Earnipay has been spending four times its revenue on product development and growth—particularly outside its lending segment. “We had hoped to grow into our cost structure,” he admitted, “but some products aren’t generating enough revenue to justify the burn.” Without restructuring, the company risked running out of money.
Founded by Nonso Onwuzulike in 2021, the company launched to improve employees’ financial well-being by partnering with employers and seamlessly integrating with their payroll system to offer its services to employees, who can then track and withdraw their accrued salaries via the app on any day of the month.
Earnipay has quickly established itself with a product built specifically for payroll behaviors in Nigeria, and early employer uptake is very strong. The fintech is systematically addressing the inefficiencies in how the African workforce interacts with salaries and will continue to build products and services with both employers and employees in mind. Aside from enabling employees to access part of their salary, the company has other product offerings which include loans (personalized for customers’ needs) and savings, which enable users to grow their funds with personalized plans.
Earnipay is backed by top investors which include Voltron Capital, Ventures Platform, Canaan Partners, XYZ, and Village Global. The company is driven by a mission to provide best-in-class financial services to businesses and their employees.
