Exclusive: Fitness & Healthtech Startup HealthifyMe Lays Off 150 Employees

Bengaluru-based healthtech and fitness startup HealthifyMe has now become the latest startup to have laid off its employees amid the growing concerns of a recession. The startup had let go of 150 employees, which is 15-20% of its total employee count, sources told Inc42. The decision has impacted the employees in SME (subject matter expert), quality analytics, product and marketing roles. 

The startup will be offering a two-month severance package and will further extend medical coverage of the impacted employees.

Confirming the development with Inc42, in a written statement, the startup said, “We have had to take the tough decision to let go 150 of our team members. Like much of tech, growth hasn’t kept pace with expectations and hiring. We are also undergoing an evolution with our new vision around metabolic heath (HealthifyMe 2.0), which requires different resources.” 

“In view of this and changing market dynamics, it made sense for us to steer towards profitability, despite a comfortable runway. As a part of our severance and support to those impacted, we will offer two months’ salary severance with two weeks per year served at HealthifyMe, vested stocks till March 2023, and medical insurance continuance till June 2023, along with counseling and outplacement support,” it added.

The layoffs have come almost 1.5 years after the startup raised $75 Mn in a Series C round of funding. Back then, the round was led by LeapFrog and Khosla Ventures. HealthQuad, Unilever Ventures, and Elm, along with existing investors Chiratae Ventures, Inventus Capital, and Sistema Asia Capital, participated in the round. To date, the startup has raised $100 Mn across multiple rounds. 

As per sources, the startup has cash runaway that will last them until 2024. People close to the matter, requesting anonymity, said that the startup is looking to acquire smaller players who are in the same business. The startup was founded in 2012 by Tushar Vashisht  and Sachin Shenoy. While Vashisht continues to run the daily opeartions of the firm, Shenoy has taken a break from overseeing the opeartions. Shenoy’s Linkedin profile says he is on a break.

In FY22, the startup reported a net loss of INR 157 Cr, an 8X jump from INR 19 Cr in FY21. In terms of sales, the startup earned a total operating revenue of INR 185.2 Cr in FY22 versus INR 86 Cr in FY21. HealthifyMe’s revenue from India stood at INR 111.6 Cr in FY22, almost double from the last year’s figure of INR 56.9 Cr. The startup’s expenses rose to INR 343.4 Cr in FY22 versus INR 105.8 Cr in FY21. 

HealthifyMe has now become the fifth healthtech startup to have laid off employees this year. Earlier, MFine, Innovaccer, Breathe Well-being, and PharmEasy’s Docon had to let go of its employees. As per the Inc42 layoff tracker, Indian startups, including HealthifyMe, have now laid off 16,933 employees in 2022.