Summit, the fintech firm formerly known as Spenmo, has retrenched 24 out of its 64 workers – roughly a third of its total workforce – across Singapore, Indonesia, and India, according to an employee affected by the move.

Axed staff were informed via an internal email sent on Wednesday. Tech in Asia understands that the cuts covered all departments.

Summit’s leadership team (from left): CTO Isaq Ahmed, CEO Jo-Ann Chung, CFO Jim Goudie / Photo credit: Summit

“This decision was not made lightly. The reassessment of our business strategy has necessitated the need to ‘right size’ our business as we seek to align our operations with the strategic focus of our business going forward,” Summit CEO and chief product officer Jo-Ann Chung said in the email.

In a statement to Tech in Asia, Chung explained that Summit’s strategy had been evolving in the past year amid the “global economic landscape and emerging customer needs,” making it necessary to realign its team structure. However, she did not confirm the number of terminated workers.

The company, which offers expense and invoice management tools to businesses, rebranded in July 2024.

The rebrand followed the resignation of Spenmo’s then-CEO Justin Choi, who stepped down just a month after taking over from co-founder Mohandass Kalaichelvan. In the same year, the company shut down its operations in the Philippines, faced rumors of fund embezzlement involving its Indonesia unit, and shed 60 to 70 employees.

In an interview with Tech in Asia last year, CEO Chung said Summit was designed to be different from Spenmo. “We see the market Spenmo attracts and the market that Summit will attract [as] being adjacent to each other.”

Spenmo focused on spend management tools like bill payments and corporate cards. In contrast, Summit positions itself as a smart tool for accounts payable workflow.

It appears the company’s expectations for integrating the old and new businesses fell short. In the email announcement, Summit’s executive team said its “initial hypothesis of leveraging existing Spenmo functionality for rapid growth” did not align with “distinct needs.”

The email also said that moving forward, the company will focus all its resources on the Summit brand. The team still sees strong and growing potential in the global market for accounts payable automation.

Laid-off employees will receive a retrenchment package that includes four months of insurance coverage and job search support, according to the internal email. Work visa holders will also be given a relocation allowance.

“We’re grateful for our departing colleagues’ contributions and are committed to supporting them with retrenchment benefits and placement support,” Chung said in her statement to Tech in Asia.

See also: Spenmo parent launches new brand after rocky 2023