The Swiss start-up told users it is close to clinching approval for its digital asset exchange, finews.com has learned. The fintech needed extra funding to make September’s payroll.
Lykke «is very close to getting such a license» to operate as a securities trader and organized trading facility, founder and CEO Richard Olsen on Monday wrote in an email to users. He was responding to a report on Swiss finance blog «Inside Paradeplatz» (in German) claiming the company had sacked most of its staff as of the end of next month.
The Swiss start-up, which first applied for a license from Swiss watchdog Finma in 2016, needed help from an unnamed, existing investor to pay its staff last month in order to pay September salaries, according to the memo. Olsen confirmed the contents to finews.com. A spokesman for Finma didn't comment.
Further Exits Loom
Lykke acknowledged that it is shedding employees due to a restructuring, including senior staff. «The current restructuring phase is still ongoing and we will have further staff departures by the end-November,» he wrote.
«All affected staff are aware of this and everything has been handled within the applicable laws and regulations,» Olsen wrote, without detailing names. The long-awaited license from Finma would allow the firm to launch and operate a platform, and to unlock further funding.
Asian Backing
In April, it won financial backing from South Korea's Hanwha Systems as well as Swiss TX Group, which publishes several news outlets. Armada, controlled by Swiss financier Daniel Aegerter, is also reportedly a backer.
Lykke will use new technology to run the platform based on the blockchain. The start-up aims to make securities markets more democratic and help smaller companies sell shares to the general public, which they then could trade as security tokens.
