Yet another AI fraud detection software provider is laying off staff. Inscribe, whose platform works to detect fraud in areas such as business underwriting, tenant screening and incorporation, has cut just under 40% of its workforce, which equates to dozens of employees. The news comes after another, small round of layoffs at AI-powered plagiarism detector Turnitin, whose CEO last year touted how AI would allow the company to reduce its headcount.
According to sources, Inscribe’s board proposed the cuts as the current market has caused the startup to miss its revenue goals for more than a year.
San Francisco-based Inscribe.ai confirmed the job cuts to TechCrunch, noting that advances in artificial intelligence in the financial services industry required a shift to a new product and direction for the company.
“2023 was a year of change for our customers and Inscribe,” explained Inscribe CEO and co-founder Ronan Burke. “Many of our clients in the fintech industry have had to deal with higher interest rates and an unpredictable future for consumers and businesses. Additionally, advances in artificial intelligence in 2023 present one of the biggest opportunities for the financial services ecosystem — enabling improved customer experiences, more efficient processes and fairer decisions,” he continued.
“In the fourth quarter of last year, we launched a new product strategy to align with these two changes in the industry, and we have a big product launch planned for later this year around that, which we’re very excited about. As part of the change in strategy, in January this year we made the difficult decision to reduce the size of the team by just under 40%, mainly in go-to-market and operational roles,” Burke said.
The company was already a relatively small business, with 60 (or more) employees, according to LinkedIn and Pitchbooka mix of engineering, product design, AI expertise, marketing, sales and more.
In January 2023, Inscribe raised $25 million in Series B funding led by Threshold Ventures with participation from Crosslink Capital, Foundry, Uncork Capital, Box co-founder Dillon Smith, and Intercom co-founder Des Traynor. The round brought Inscribe’s total raised to date to $38 million. At the time, the company predicted it would double its then 50-person workforce within the next 12 to 18 months.
Sarah Perez can be reached at sarahp@techcrunch.com or @sarahperez.01 / 415.234.3994 on Signal.
