Orlando-based financial technology company Stax this week laid off nearly two dozen employees.
Roughly a year after Stax reached coveted "unicorn" status — a private business worth $1 billion or more — the company has cut multiple jobs.
Stax realigned business units to boost efficiency and achieve more profitable growth, Stax CEO John Kristel said in a prepared statement shared with Orlando Inno.
Kristel did not respond to Orlando Inno's question about the specific number of employees laid off at Stax. Instead, they said a "few dozen" of Stax's 300-plus employees were let go. This includes Orlando-based workers, remote workers and employees of Stax's subsidiaries in other cities. Less than two dozen Orlando-based Stax employees were affected.
"These changes are designed to create a more focused business strategy and ensure a healthy and sustainable future," Kristel said. "This headcount adjustment, which amounts to a small percentage [of the workforce], right-sizes the Stax team and positions us for future success. The changes that were made are aligned to the capabilities Stax will need for profitable growth."
Additional layoffs at Stax are not planned at this time, Kristel said.
While Kristel said certain divisions within Stax were affected more than others, they did not specify which teams were affected the most.
At least five former Stax employees based in Orlando shared they were laid off in LinkedIn posts published Wednesday and Thursday. Those employees' positions included partner payment consultant senior manager, employee experience manager, senior payment consultant, product marketing manager and user experience designer.
Despite the layoffs, Stax's Orlando workforce has grown to 150 people from 130 last year, Kristel said.
These layoffs follow a leadership shakeup at Stax. Former CEO Suneera Madhani and former President Sal Rehmetullah, siblings who founded Stax as startup Fattmerchant in 2014, left the company in January.
Madhani and Rehmetullah did not give reasons why they left Stax, and they did not share if they had future career plans. Neither have responded to requests for comment.
Kristel, operating partner at Greater Sum Ventures LLC, was named interim CEO on Jan. 10. Since 2020, Knoxville, Tennessee-based investment firm Greater Sum Ventures has held a majority stake in Stax.
Stax has been a pivotal piece of Central Florida's tech ecosystem. It was the first tech unicorn to be founded and built entirely in Orlando. Stax processes $30 billion in payments for 30,000 businesses across the country.
Stax also is one of the fastest-growing companies in Orlando and nationwide. For example, the firm was No. 908 on the Inc. 5000 2022 list of the U.S. private companies with the fastest-growing revenue from 2018-2021. Stax grew its revenue 972% in those three years.
Plus, Stax has served as a success story for Central Florida’s entrepreneurial community. In its early days, the company used local resources like accelerator Starter Studio and the Rollins College Venture Plan Competition to access coaching, funding and exposure. Plus, some of its earliest investors were Orlando firms like DeepWork Capital LLC and venVelo.
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