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Tradeshift, a late-stage fintech startup that has raised more than $1 billion in venture capital and debt, has fired its co-founder Christian Lang, citing “serious allegations of sexual assault and harassment” and “gross misconduct on multiple grounds.” Has been dismissed. The company’s statement was posted Tuesday.
Lang has vehemently denied the allegations. TradeShift appointed former chief revenue officer James Sterk as interim chief executive.
Tradeshift – and its B2B fintech platform for payments, supply chain procurement and marketplace services between buyers and suppliers – has attracted investment from a wide range of investors, including strategic backers HSBC, Goldman Sachs, American Express and Intuit. Most recently, HSBC invested $35 million in July.
Goldman Sachs Group sold its shares in 2021, a spokeswoman said. HSBC declined to comment on recent developments.
Tradeshift’s statement said the company learned of the allegations in late August and fired Lang on September 1. The US-Danish company said it had set up a “dedicated and anonymous whistle-blowing line” for its 800 employees.
In August, Lang, while running Tradeshift, launched a separate venture called Beyond Work, which describes itself as a “human-first interface for automating anything 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 currently waitlisted only. TechCrunch contacted Moonfire for comment and we’ll update this post with any replies we receive.
In a statement sent to TechCrunch, Lang said: “I refute the statement made this week by TradeShift. There has never been any HR case, complaint or formal charge filed against me at Tradeshift. The board consists of long-term members who would be aware of any such claims, so the statement that the board became aware of anything only recently is not true.
Lang said: “I have given the current management and the new board every opportunity to move forward peacefully. This will still be my priority, but I am now seeking advice on my next steps.
Lang claimed the charges stemmed from a breakdown in negotiations over his and others’ exit from Tradeshift. “A number of co-founders are leaving Tradeshift after the board took the step to fire me after we were in active discussions about our exit following the HSBC deal,” he said.
In an apparently unrelated development, Tradeshift co-founder and former head of the platform Mikael Hippe Bruun posted on LinkedIn on Tuesday that he has left Tradeshift to work on another startup. TechCrunch has contacted him for comment.
A spokesperson for TradeShift said the company was not commenting on Lang’s statements beyond the statements already posted on its Web site. TechCrunch has not yet been able to independently verify TradeShift’s allegations against Lang. Three women contacted individually by TechCrunch who have worked or worked at Tradeshift expressed their support for them.
Lange formed Tradeshift with Hippe and Gert Sylvest in 2005, originally under the name EasyTrade. It is estimated to be worth up to $2.7 billion in 2021.
