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Tradeshift, a late-stage fintech startup that has raised over $1 billion in enterprise and debt, has dismissed its co-founder Christian Lanng, citing “severe allegations of sexual assault and harassment” and “gross misconduct on a number of grounds,” based on an organization assertion posted on Tuesday.
Lanng has vehemently denied the allegations. Tradeshift appointed former chief income officer James Stirk as interim chief govt.
Tradeshift — and its B2B fintech platform for funds, provide chain procurement and market companies between patrons and suppliers — has attracted funding from a variety of buyers, together with strategic backers HSBC, Goldman Sachs, American Categorical and Intuit. Most just lately, HSBC invested $35 million in July.
A spokesman stated Goldman Sachs Group offered its shares in 2021. HSBC declined to touch upon current occasions.
Tradeshift’s assertion stated the corporate turned conscious of the allegations in late August and dismissed Lanng on September 1. The U.S.-Danish firm stated it has arrange a “devoted and nameless whistle-blowing line” for its 800 workers.
In August, Lanng, whereas nonetheless working Tradeshift, launched a separate enterprise referred to as Past Work, which describes itself as a “human-first interface to automate something with multiplayer AI.” It has raised $2.5 million in pre-seed funding led by Moonfire Ventures, with co-investment from MIT-affiliated fund E14 and is at the moment waitlist-only. TechCrunch reached out to Moonfire for remark and we’ll replace this put up with any reply we obtain.
In a press release despatched to TechCrunch, Lanng stated: “I refute the assertion made this week by Tradeshift. There has by no means been an HR case, grievance or formal allegation filed towards me at Tradeshift. The board consists of long run members who would have been conscious of any such claims, so the assertion that the board just lately turned conscious of something shouldn’t be true.”
Lanng added: “I’ve given the present administration and new board each alternative to maneuver on peacefully. This is able to nonetheless be my choice, however I’m now taking recommendation on my subsequent steps.”
Lanng claimed the allegations stemmed from a breakdown in negotiations over his and others’ exits from Tradeshift. “A number of co-founders are leaving Tradeshift after being in energetic dialogue about our exit put up HSBC deal when the board moved to dismiss me,” he stated.
In an apparently unrelated improvement, Tradeshift co-founder and former head of platform Mikkel Hippe Brun posted on LinkedIn on Tuesday that he had left Tradeshift to work on one other startup. TechCrunch has reached out to him for remark.
A spokesperson for Tradeshift stated the corporate was not responding to Lanng’s statements past what it had already posted on its website. TechCrunch has not but been capable of independently substantiate Tradeshift’s allegations towards Lanng. Three girls contacted individually by TechCrunch, who’ve labored or are working at Tradeshift, have voiced their help of him to us.
Lanng fashioned Tradeshift in 2005 with Hippe and Gert Sylvest, initially beneath the title EasyTrade. It has been valued as excessive as $2.7 billion, in 2021.
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