Shaun Bonett’s gift card start up Prezzee sheds 10pc of workforce

afr.com:

Prezzee, the gift card company backed by billionaire Shaun Bonett, has cut about 10 per cent of its workforce, largely in its technology team.

At the height of the technology market boom in 2021, the company had been chasing a valuation of as much as $1 billion and considering listing on the ASX. That did not happen, and markets have declined sharply since.

Shaun Bonett is the chief executive of Precission Group and the major backer of Prezzee. Oscar Colman

Mr Bonett, on the Financial Review Rich List with estimated wealth of $2.3 billion, made his money in property before acquiring 55 per cent of Prezzee in 2015 via his Precision Group. He is now Prezzee’s chief executive after the relatively short tenure of former Mastercard executive Jamie Samaha, who was in the role for less than 18 months, according to his LinkedIn.

In 2020, Precision raised its stake to 85 per cent of Prezzee, which was founded in 2014 and sells its own electronic gift cards that can be used at a range of merchants as well as issuing gift cards for corporate clients.

The company announced plans last year to increase its workforce to 400 people, which it claimed would not require any further external investment. The redundancies were announced internally this week.

Prezzee would not confirm the exact number or percentage of staff affected by the layoffs, which are across several countries, with a company spokesman only saying they affected “some team members”. “Prezzee expanded its team during COVID as it experienced rapid growth and invested in technology to develop a world-class digital platform,” he said.

The company had recently finished the development of several new products and was now focussing on building its brand and entering new markets,