Exclusive: Lightrock India-Backed MediBuddy Lays Off Around 200 Employees

Healthtech startup MediBuddy laid off around 200 employees earlier this week in a restructuring exercise, sources told Inc42.

While the sudden layoffs impacted employees across departments, the tech, product, sales, and operations team saw the maximum sackings, the sources added.

MediBuddy had a total employee count of over 2,400 prior to the restructuring exercise.

The Bengaluru-based startup confirmed the development in a statement. “While layoffs are never easy and it is painful in the short term, this was to realign our current business goals for long-term stability and growth. In this entire process of realignment, we had to part with 8% of the workforce across all departments as a one-time restructuring exercise and eliminate any redundancy in roles and responsibilities,” the statement said. 

The startup said it would provide out-placement assistance to the impacted employees for identifying potential job opportunities. Besides, it has designed a care package that includes MediBuddy wallet continuity for the health and wellness of the affected employees, and extended their health insurance. 

The layoffs come almost two months after MediBuddy completed its merger with DocsApp, a telemedicine startup which it acquired in 2020. MediBuddy then said that DocsApp’s complete merger will pave the way for a single umbrella entity with end-to-end healthcare services. 

Founded in 2013 by Satish Kannan and Enbasekar Dinadayalane, MediBuddy allows users to book lab tests, consult doctors and order medicines on its platform. The startup claims to have a partner network of 90,000 doctors, 7,000 hospitals, 3,000 diagnostic centers, 2,500 pharmacies, among others. It also offers end-to-end surgery care in departments such as proctology, ophthalmology, vascular, ENT, orthopaedics, and urology, gynaecology, and more.

Early last year, the startup raised $125 Mn in its Series C round from Quadria Capital and Lightrock India. The round also saw participation from existing investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, India Life Sciences Fund III, Rebright Partners, JAFCO Asia, TEAMFUND LP among others. MediBuddy has raised more than $170 Mn from over a dozen investors till date. 

Last year, the startup also announced acquisition of rural India-focused online consultation platform Clinix for an undisclosed amount. The deal was expected to help MediBuddy expand its reach in non-metro areas of the country. MediBuddy then said it would leverage Clinix’s network across 20 Tier-2, 3 cities to increase its user base and further scale their operations. 

MediBuddy reported a 2.4X jump in its net loss to INR 249.2 Cr in FY22 from INR 102.7 Cr in FY21. While the startup’s revenue from operations increased 58% to INR 234.06 Cr from INR 147.5 Cr in FY21, total expenses jumped 89% to INR 485.9 Cr from INR 256.6 Cr in the previous year. 

With the latest job cuts, MediBuddy has become the sixth Indian health-focused startup since last year to layoff employees. Earlier, telemedicine startup MFine laid off over 600 employees, whereas healthtech unicorn startup Innovacer let go of around 120 employees. Breathe Well-Being, Docon by PharmEasy, and HealhtifyMe are among the other healthtech startups to layoff employees.

In total, Indian startups have laid off more than 20,000 employees over the last year or so.

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