Exclusive: Tiger Global-Backed Healthtech Unicorn Innovaccer Lays Off 245 Employees

Healthtech unicorn Innovaccer fired around 15% of its workforce, or 245 employees, on Tuesday (January 24) in the second round of layoffs within four months. The layoffs impacted employees across teams in India and the US, sources told Inc42. 

In an internal mail sent to employees and seen by Inc42, Innovaccer cofounder and CEO Abhinav Shashank cited “uncertain macroeconomic environment” as the reason behind the job cuts. 

Shashank also confirmed the development with Inc42 in a statement. “Innovaccer has always believed in empowering its customers to accelerate their transformations, leading to higher quality care for patients and populations, improved patient experiences, and better financial and operational performance. This will be our central focus as the industry shifts from a predominantly fee-for-service model to value-based, consumer-centric care. Hence, we are taking the much-needed step of doubling down on our core capabilities and streamlining our organizational focus,” the statement said.

The cofounder said that Innovaccer will deprioritize certain areas and offerings that distract the unicorn from its “core portfolio”, and this will result in a 15% reduction in workforce.

The startup’s spokesperson in the statement said that Innovaccer continues to remain in a strong financial position. The startup will offer severance packages to the impacted employees along with transitional health insurance benefits, and job placement support, the spokesperson added.

In September last year, Inc42 exclusively reported about Innovaccer laying off around 8% of its total workforce, or about 90 employees

The startup raised $150 Mn in its Series E round at a valuation of $3.2 Bn in February 2022. The funding round was led by Mubadala Group, along with B Capital Group, Microsoft’s M12 fund, OMERS Growth Equity, Dragoneer, and Steadview Capital. 

The San Francisco and California-headquartered startup is also backed by marquee investors like Tiger Global, Whale Rock Capital Management, Avidity Partners, and Schonfeld Strategic Advisors. 

Founded in 2014 by Shashank, Kanav Hasija, and Sandeep Gupta, Innovaccer analyses healthcare data to provide actionable insights to healthcare providers, hospitals, insurance companies, and other businesses. 

The startup entered the coveted unicorn club in early 2021 after raising $105 Mn in a Series D round led by Tiger Global Management. 

The layoffs come at a time when the ongoing funding winter has forced Indian startups to take cost cutting measures to increase their runway. As per Inc42’s layoff tracker, Indian startups have laid off more than 20,000 employees since the start of 2022. Medibuddy, Breathe Well-being, PharmEasy’s Docon, HealhifyMe, and MFine are the other Indian healthtech startups which have laid off employees since last year.

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