Kontist lays off 50 employees

The Berlin-based banking start-up has to let go a quarter of its workforce.

50 employees have been laid off from banking startup Kontist, a spokeswoman confirmed on Finanz-Szene and Finance Forward. Other start-ups have also had to terminate parts of their workforce in recent days, such as the payment provider Klarna, which had to lay off ten percent. It was further said that a stronger focus would now be placed on the account provider's tax advisory services for business customers. There was talk of "organic restructuring".

For investors, loss-making tech companies are unsafe, so they are pushing portfolio companies to pay more attention to costs. This represents a shift after several years of upswing, when startups were looking for new employees and now have to lay them off.

Kontist was founded as an offering for the self-employed, specializing in tailored banking offerings.