Exclusive: Brass opts for a smaller team under new management

While the takeover of business banking startup Brass by a group of investors was widely hailed as a win by the tech ecosystem, it also entailed a restructuring that saw several employees leave the business.

An initial TechCabal report claimed only Sola Akindolu, the CEO, Emmanuel Okeke, the CTO, and head of design, Tolulope Saba, left the company, but 16 employees who were furloughed in March 2024 were also laid off.

“While Brass has been recapitalized, the new operating model [which prioritises prudent runway management] requires a smaller team during this period of transition, and as a result, the furloughed team members have been let go,” Brass said in a statement confirming the layoffs.

It was a disappointing turn of events for the employees, who were told by the previous management that they would return to the company after the furlough. Two former employees claimed the layoffs happened immediately after the acquisition was communicated.

“While the product and customer-facing experience remain the same, for all intents and purposes, back-of-house operations are now run by a new company,” Brass said in a statement.

The restructuring did not only impact furloughed employees.

“They gave the remaining employees [including team executives/ team leads] a choice to resign from the company or have their roles re-evaluated through an interview,” a former staff told TechCabal. “Nearly seventy percent of non-furloughed Brass team members who were interested in joining the new entity were retained and re-hired.”

Brass confirmed that people who didn’t pass the evaluation or opted to leave the company parted ways with a severance of one month’s pay. Brass’s goal is to keep the headcount at manageable levels.

The company has still not named a permanent CEO and CTO, and in the interim, a team of former Brass and current Paystack employees are leading the team.