RealtyBizNews - Real Estate Marketing and Beyond
Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
Home » Housing » News » Notarize makes a quarter of its staff redundant

Notarize makes a quarter of its staff redundant

By Mike Wheatley | June 19, 2022

Just days after two of the industry’s biggest online brokers announced job cuts, the remote online notarization firm Notarize has gone and laid off workers too.

The announcement came directly from Notarize Chief Executive Pat Kinsel, who revealed on Twitter that the company had laid off 25% of its workforce. It is the second time the 7-year-old Boston firm has laid off staff, having previously done so in 2019 after it failed to secure funding.

Kinsel said in a statement that he was “exceptionally proud” of the team Notarize had built and stressed they are leaving through no fault of their own.

“They are truly the best of the best,” he said. “I will forever be grateful for the chance to work with them.”

Kinsel explained that the layoffs were his decision and that it was taken to put the company on a path to profitability with its current level of capital.

“I take very seriously the commitments we’ve made to regulators, legislators, & industries who changed laws and policies to unlock the digital future we’re creating,” he explained.

Notarize, which provides tools for individuals and businesses to get documents legally notarized online, is doing its bit to help the staff it has laid off. The firm is offering laid off employees severance packages and support services as they search for new positions. It has also created a public list of “Notarize Alumni” who are now out of work and looking for a position. They include former corporate onboarding managers, solutions engineers, closing operations team members, sales staff, customer success staff and others. Companies who’re on the hunt for talented staff may do well to check out the list.

Notarize was one of a clutch of technology firms that reaped dividends from the COVID-19 pandemic. With face-to-face activities suddenly a big no-no, Notarize saw a big jump in demand for its online document legalization services. In the U.S., virtually every state instituted emergency legislation that legalized online notary services, helping the company to expand rapidly.

The appetite for digital services helped Notarize land $130 million in a Series D round of funding led by Canapi Ventures last June. At the time of that round Notarize said it had grown its revenue by 600% year-over-year. The round valued Notarize at $760 million, three times what it was worth one year before.

In his statement on Twitter, Kinsel explained that the company’s regulatory victories and partnerships have put it in a very different position over the past two years, and that now is time to evolve its strategy.

The truth is that Notarize can no longer expect to grow as fast as it has been doing, and it may well have overextended itself in matters of hiring.

“Additionally, the state of the economy and world events is creating a lot of uncertainty and putting significant pressure on businesses everywhere,” Kinsel said. “While many of these factors propel Notarize’s business, they also change the company’s access to future investment and force us to re-evaluate what we can invest in and pursue.”

Mike Wheatley is the senior editor at Realty Biz News. Got a real estate related news article you wish to share, contact Mike at [email protected].
  • Sign up to Realty Biz Buzz
    Get Digital Marketing Training
    right to your inbox
    All Contents © Copyright RealtyBizNews · All Rights Reserved. 2016-2024
    Website Designed by Swaydesign.
    linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram