October 8, fintech unicorn Stash announced that its co-founders, who started the company in 2015 and whose roles were reduced last year, are returning to head the company they started.
But one important detail was left out: Stash is also restructuring, with 40% of its workforce of about 220 people, including at least three of its executives, out of a job, according to three people familiar with the matter, confirmed by Zaliha. It was the second major layoff at Stash this year.
The changes come just weeks after Liza Landsman, executive director since 2023, abruptly left at the end of September. The board, mostly filled with the company’s venture capitalists, approached co-founders Ed Robinson and Brandon Krieg to lead the company as co-CEOs, Robinson says Wealth.
Robinson stepped down from his operational role, although he remained a board member. Krieg stepped down to lead business development. Robinson characterized Landsman’s departure as mutual, saying she was neither fired nor resigned. “Liza did some amazing things for Stash … She wasn’t the right person for the next phase,” Robinson said. Two people familiar with the matter said Landsman had resigned. Landsman declined to comment.
At the time of her departure, there were rumors among employees about a potential acquisition, recalls one former employee. And for good reason: Management was considering two acquisition offers at the time, two people said.
One of those offers was from investment platform eToro for less than Stash’s last valuation of $1.4 billion, according to two people familiar with the matter. The exact amount of the offer cannot be confirmed. “We are actively exploring M&A opportunities globally,” an eTor spokesperson said Wealthdeclining to comment on any specifics.
Although the board ultimately rejected those offers in favor of a funding round, which Robinson says is in the process of closing. The company plans to announce the investment soon.
Robinson declined to share any details about the expected funding round, other than that it will be used to pay down some of the company’s debt and spend on growth initiatives. Robinson talks Wealth that Stash frequently receives acquisition offers and estimates that about 80 companies have expressed interest in an acquisition in the past six to nine months. He declined to name specific potential buyers.
Robinson said the latest restructuring was to remove layers of management and make Stash “less bureaucratic”. He insisted that Stash hasn’t eliminated any of its products and that its employees are still working on exactly the same things — just with smaller teams. “We just really wanted to try to strip away a lot of layers and just refocus the company,” he said.
Stash, whose latest valuation of $1.4 billion dates back to 2021, operates in the crowded space of wealth advisory and investment technology platforms, competing with other companies including Betterment, Acorns and Robinhood. Stash positions itself as an “investing app for beginners” with a subscription model that provides users with financial advice and manages auto-investing services.
Stash, which is headquartered in New York but whose staff is mostly remote, does not disclose its revenue or other financial information.
Stash announces that it now has more than 1.2 million subscribers, although that number represents a decline from 2022, when the platform had 2 million. The company was struggling with debt and carried out a series of layoffs before October, including one in March that represented 25% of its workforce, or about 80 people, bringing the number of employees to 220 at the time.
The company had 500 employees at its peak, according to Axios report.
“There was a general feeling that there was increased competitive pressure, so things had to be tightened up,” says one former employee.
The October restructuring was not mentioned in the company’s external announcement of the co-founders’ return as CEOs, although two sources said it was the same day the company announced the layoffs internally. A Bloomberg article published on the same day about the restructuring also made no mention of the cuts.
Robinson said the company is not considering further layoffs and that it posted positive monthly cash flow in November—the first time in Stash’s 10-year history. He highlighted a new AI investment tool introduced this year and added that Stash is considering bringing back crypto trading to its platform, which was discontinued under Landsman.
