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Veriff laying off 55 people in Estonia

20 points by workfromspace 3y ago

workfromspace 3y ago
Estonian identity verification company Veriff lays off 21% of its employees In addition to: - February 2023: Veriff lays off 66 employees (12%) - https://news.err.ee/1608757834/weekly-estonia-s-feted-startups-face-their-first-major-economic-test https://news.err.ee/1608757834/weekly-estonia-s-feted-startu... - May 2020: Veriff lays off 63 employees - https://news.err.ee/1085714/estonian-id-verification-company-veriff-to-lay-off-63-staff https://news.err.ee/1085714/estonian-id-verification-company...
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
gumballindie 3y ago
> Veriff raised US$100 million from foreign venture capital funds, which boosted its valuation to US$1.5 billion and made it a unicorn. According to Startup Estonia, Veriff is the second largest startup in Estonia in terms of revenue. In the second quarter of this year, Veriff’s sales revenue amounted to more than €18 million, in which Veriff was second only to Bolt. A 1 billion $ valuation for a company that made 18 mil in sales? This is madness. > AI-powered identity verification Ah yes the new “crypto”.
- marcinzm 3y ago
  They raised in Jan 2022 before the AI boom so it's not due to that but rather to the pre-2022 VC culture driven by low interest rates.
  - gumballindie 3y ago
    The media ai boom started in 2023 but i know people have been obsessed with ai investments for a number years before 2022. All of them flopped afaik.
    - marcinzm 3y ago
      Pre-2022 everyone was getting tons of money for everything.
      - gumballindie 3y ago
        Absolutely, and now the losses are being cut, particularly around grift centric niches such as ai and crypto currencies.
- sokoloff 3y ago
  > A 1 billion $ valuation for a company that made 18 mil in sales? That was 18M Euro (around $20M) and in a quarter. If that revenue was all recurring, that implies an $80M/yr run rate, or a 12.5x multiple on revenue to get to a billion dollar valuation. That's only 5x the current S&P500 price-to-sales ratio (and I'd surely expect startups with any sales traction to have a much higher ratio than US large caps, due to the much higher potential for growth). It doesn't seem that crazy to me, which might mean that I'm the crazy one.
bitcoinmoney 3y ago
How can 21 people make a difference in a 100M& funded company? Seems a rounding error
- sokoloff 3y ago
  It’s 55 people, 21% of workforce, as I read it.
  - kwanbix 3y ago
    Still, with the Estonian salaries, 55 people is a rounding error.

20 points by workfromspace 3y ago

Estonian identity verification company Veriff lays off 21% of its employees In addition to: - February 2023: Veriff lays off 66 employees (12%) - https://news.err.ee/1608757834/weekly-estonia-s-feted-startups-face-their-first-major-economic-test https://news.err.ee/1608757834/weekly-estonia-s-feted-startu... - May 2020: Veriff lays off 63 employees - https://news.err.ee/1085714/estonian-id-verification-company-veriff-to-lay-off-63-staff https://news.err.ee/1085714/estonian-id-verification-company...

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

gumballindie 3y ago

> Veriff raised US$100 million from foreign venture capital funds, which boosted its valuation to US$1.5 billion and made it a unicorn. According to Startup Estonia, Veriff is the second largest startup in Estonia in terms of revenue. In the second quarter of this year, Veriff’s sales revenue amounted to more than €18 million, in which Veriff was second only to Bolt. A 1 billion $ valuation for a company that made 18 mil in sales? This is madness. > AI-powered identity verification Ah yes the new “crypto”.

marcinzm 3y ago
They raised in Jan 2022 before the AI boom so it's not due to that but rather to the pre-2022 VC culture driven by low interest rates.
- gumballindie 3y ago
  The media ai boom started in 2023 but i know people have been obsessed with ai investments for a number years before 2022. All of them flopped afaik.
  - marcinzm 3y ago
    Pre-2022 everyone was getting tons of money for everything.
    - gumballindie 3y ago
      Absolutely, and now the losses are being cut, particularly around grift centric niches such as ai and crypto currencies.
sokoloff 3y ago
> A 1 billion $ valuation for a company that made 18 mil in sales? That was 18M Euro (around $20M) and in a quarter. If that revenue was all recurring, that implies an $80M/yr run rate, or a 12.5x multiple on revenue to get to a billion dollar valuation. That's only 5x the current S&P500 price-to-sales ratio (and I'd surely expect startups with any sales traction to have a much higher ratio than US large caps, due to the much higher potential for growth). It doesn't seem that crazy to me, which might mean that I'm the crazy one.

bitcoinmoney 3y ago

How can 21 people make a difference in a 100M& funded company? Seems a rounding error

sokoloff 3y ago
It’s 55 people, 21% of workforce, as I read it.
- kwanbix 3y ago
  Still, with the Estonian salaries, 55 people is a rounding error.