Fintech consultancy 11:FS is making more job cuts, bringing its technology unit into the main business as it seeks to reduce costs in the face of tough market conditions.
11:FS Foundry CEO Leda Glyptis is among an unspecified number of people leaving. The cuts come weeks after parent 11:FS reduced its workforce by 12%.
Operating as a "startup within a startup", 11:FS Foundry has been building a toolset to help banks bring digital services to market faster, either in a modular fashion or as a full-stack legacy replacement architecture.
The unit scored an early vote of confidence in 2018 when Norway's DNB invested £3 million for a five per cent stake and agreed to be the technology's first client, setting the roadmap for development.
However, in a lengthy blog, 11:FS CEO David Brear says that while "we're proud to have DNB as an investor and partner...we need to make sure we're zooming out from what's directly in front of us to see the bigger picture and bigger opportunity".
Foundry has had to manage its own deal flow and balance sheet and Brear admits that "while we know there are plenty of partners (and investors) out there looking for something like 11:FS Foundry, we haven’t found the right fit in time to continue at our current size and scale".
Therefore, the unit is being folded into the main business, with an unspecified number of job losses. 11:FS is promising a package of support for those leaving.
The core team will now be overseen by group CTO Ewan Silver. Brear does not name Foundry CEO Glyptis but she has confirmed that she is leaving on Twitter, where she has received an outpouring of support - in contrast to her former boss.
Meanwhile. Brear says the firm plans to raise additional capital to "accelerate our roadmap" and that "this is not the end of the road" for Foundry.