(Reuters) – Financial technology firm Pagaya Technologies Ltd said on Wednesday it was laying off nearly 20% of its employees across its offices in the United States and Israel.
Fintech startups have been some of the biggest casualties of the challenging economic environment since last year, after the Federal Reserve began raising rates to combat inflation.
Pagaya said the affected employees were informed by Tuesday. The company will incur a one-time charge of $4 million due to severance payouts, most of which will be accounted for in the first quarter, it added.
Founded in 2016, the company has over 600 employees, according to its website.
Pagaya said the job cuts will bring about $30 million in savings annually, beginning in 2023 and help it achieve its growth objectives in the near- to medium term.
The company listed on NASDAQ last year through a merger with special purpose acquisition company EJF Acquisition Corp in a deal that valued it at $8.5 billion.
Since then, its shares have lost around 84% of their value as of last close. They were down nearly 3.5% at 92 cents in premarket trading.
A special purpose acquisition company is a company that is listed on an exchange solely with the purpose of raising money to acquire another company and take it public.
(Reporting by Anirban Chakroborti and Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
