Exclusive: Mojocare lays off around 170 employees within a year of fundraise

Health-tech startup Mojocare has laid off more than 80% of its employees, according to sources aware of the matter. The development has come within a year of $20.6 million fundraise announced by the Bengaluru-based company.

“Mojocare has fired over 80% staff and left with few people to operate the company,” said one of the sources requesting anonymity. “More than 200 employees are expected to be impacted by the decision.”

As per sources, the email and Slack IDs of the affected employees were disabled without any prior notice.

Responding to Entrackr’s queries, a Mojocare spokesperson said,“....Despite our best efforts, our business fundamentals have not worked out over the past few months. In order to become more capital efficient, we have decided to rationalize costs. In order to prioritize profitability and sustainability, we must revert to operating as a small yet robust team, allowing us to figure out what's best for the company going forward.”

The spokesperson further said that 150-170 employees were impacted by the decision.

Founded by former MPL VP Rajat Gupta and ex-Chiratae investment professional Ashwin Swaminathan, Mojocare provides personalized wellness products and services including consultations and treatments for daily nutrition, fitness, hair, skin, sleep and sexual health.

Backed by the likes of B Capital, Chiratae Ventures, Sequoia India’s Surge and Better Capital, the startup has raised $24 million in total and was valued at around $70-75 million during the last fundraise.

Mojocare has joined a clutch of growth-stage startups that have resorted to layoffs within a year of raising decent money. FrontRow, a learning platform for non-academic skills, fired nearly 90% of its employees and it is exploring acquisition deals following mass layoffs. Last year, fresh farm produce-focused quick commerce startup Fraazo also fired its entire staff and shut down operations.