Tala, the venture-backed digital lending firm operating in Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines and India, is reducing its workforce as part of a restructuring effort aimed at centralising operations across its global business.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the company said the reorganisation would streamline functions and align its operations with a new strategic structure.
Tala noted that fewer than 10% of its employees in Kenya would be affected, although it did not disclose the total number of job losses worldwide, the departments impacted, or the regions where the cuts are concentrated.
The latest round of redundancies follows a similar exercise last year, when Tala laid off 28 employees from its customer operations division. At the time, the company attributed the decision to lower loan default rates and a reduction in customer support enquiries, which had left some teams overstaffed. Those cuts represented around 3% of its workforce.
“As part of the evolution of Tala’s global operating model, we are streamlining our functions and centralising operations to align with our strategic roadmap,” the company said.
Based on workforce figures previously shared, the current restructuring could affect fewer than 20 employees in Kenya, although the company has not confirmed the exact number.
Tala launched in Kenya in 2014 before expanding into Mexico, the Philippines and India. In 2025, Chief Executive Officer Shivani Siroya said the company had served more than 10 million customers, issued over $6 billion in loans and achieved an annualised revenue run rate of $300 million.
Despite the job cuts, Tala reaffirmed its commitment to the Kenyan market, stating that it remains focused on supporting customers who rely on its loans to sustain businesses, manage income gaps and meet household expenses.
The lender said the centralisation of functions would help advance its broader goal of integrating its services into partner ecosystems at scale, although it did not provide further details on how the strategy would reshape its operations.
Founded in 2011, Tala provides unsecured digital loans through its mobile application.
According to Crunchbase, the company has raised more than $522 million across 13 funding rounds, including a debt financing round completed in March 2025.
