argyle, which aims to help companies and institutions access employment data, has laid off a number of employees in all departments, businesskinda.com has learned from sources. A company spokesperson confirmed the staff cut to businesskinda.com, saying it was letting go 6.5% of the team, or 20 people.
The figure provided by Argyle does not represent contractors who could have been affected by the layoff. A spokesperson declined to provide further details on the number of contractors involved, if any, or what severance payments, if any, were provided to employees.
“Argyle’s continued advance towards enterprises rather than SMBs requires specific skills and the company today adapted its team,” the spokesperson wrote via email. The same spokesperson said the company is still on track to double its workforce by the end of the year and take on more than 30 job openings. While the spokesperson didn’t say it outright, the statement means it has let go of those with more SMB experience and is looking for more entrepreneurial people.
The startup raised a $20 million Series A in October 2020, and then disclosed that it processes 10 million user employment data per month. CEO and co-founder Shmulik Fishman said he wanted to disrupt the process of institutions buying records from third parties and instead bring user consent into the mix. The goal is to give employees more ownership of their data and to make the entire process more transparent. Fishman alluded to a love for Plaid in an interview that same month, even mentioning the startup’s name as a nod to other successful fintechs branded around patterns.
Ironically, though, Plaid has quickly gone from friend to foe. Months after Argyle secured Series A funding, Plaid announced the launch of income verification services.
This year, Argyle Announced a $55 Million Series B Financing Round and the launch of a self-service tool to give consumers easy access to their employment data. The company went on to claim that it experienced “10x growth” compared to the previous round. As last confirmed, Argyle serves more than 500,000 U.S. employers, including 60% of the Fortune 500 and “nearly 100% of gig workers.”
In its early days, Argyle told FinLedger that the largest customer segment consisted of companies that focused on lending, such as financial institutions, publicly traded banks, credit unions, insurers and any company that offers “credit extension in all shapes, shapes and sizes.”
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