Notarize lays off a quarter of its workforce

Boston-based Notarize, a provider of online notarization software, laid off 110 workers, or approximately 25% of its payroll Wednesday, making it the latest fintech to make cuts this year. 

The layoffs impacted staff from junior to senior employees in nearly every department and left the company with 325 workers, a spokesperson confirmed Thursday. Notarize made the move in a shift to grow revenue from existing partnerships rather than customer and partner acquisition, as well as a response to economic uncertainty, CEO and founder Pat Kinsel said in a statement.

The layoffs were first reported by the Boston Business Journal.

“It’s hard to reconcile that we’re both growing AND shrinking, but it is the right decision,” Kinsel wrote in a tweet posted Wednesday evening.

The firm is providing severance, support services, eliminating a one-year equity vesting period for employees and keeping affected workers’ 10-year exercise window intact, Kinsel said. 

Notarize works with some of the nation’s top lenders as well as auto, insurance and other financial services and reported a 400% spike in business following the onset of the pandemic and increased use of remote online notarizations. The company raised $130 million in a Series D funding round last spring, surpassed 1 million transactions in March and bolstered its executive ranks in April.

The firm claims mortgage lenders can save nearly $444 on per loan costs with full eClosings, while title and settlement providers can save as much as $97 per transaction. 

RON closings continue to reach more markets, after Maine Gov. Janet Mills last month made Maine the 40th state to allow the option, according to the American Land Title Association.

Tech companies have suffered large layoffs in the past few months as rising interest rates impact financial markets and the subsequent housing market cooldown deals a blow to revenues across the mortgage landscape. Other real estate fintechs trimming payroll include mortgage technology provider Blend, lender Tomo Networks and Zumper, an online rental search startup which shed 15% of its approximate 300-person workforce last week, The Real Deal reported.

The cuts also come with significant financial hits. Real estate brokerage Compass will spend up to $23 million this quarter in cutting approximately 450 employees, or 10% of its staff, while Redfin’s layoff of 6% of its workforce, or 470 personnel, will cost it up to $10.5 million, the companies said this week.

Digital lender Better.com has become a poster child for the industry’s struggles, laying off almost half of its workforce at the cost of up to $84.1 million. The firm is also under fire in a new federal whistleblower suit, in which the company’s former second-in-command claims  CEO Vishal Garg misled investors about Better’s performance and botched a mass layoff in December.