MFine, the Bengaluru-based healthtech startup, has had to lay off at least 500 employees as it is facing a massive financial crisis. The exact number of employees asked to leave is not clear. The Company, which offers a platform for on-demand doctor consultations and facilitates ordering of medicines, is reportedly not in a position to pay salaries to its about 1,000-strong workforce.
The affected employees belong to the engineering, data science, product and even talent-acquisition departments.
The staff members have been told that the Company, which has presence in over 400 cities in India, is facing a dearth of finances and will not be able to pay salaries for the coming months.
Founded in 2017, the Company runs a platform that offers doctor consultations and has tie-ups with clinics, diagnostic labs, radiology service providers as well as hospitals. The platform using which users are able to access over 700 diagnostic centres across the country, also offers discounts on health checkup packages. The platform used to process about three lakh transactions per month.
Last valued at about $400 million, the founders, Ashutosh LAwania, Prasad Kompalli, Ajit Narayanan and Arjun Choudhary had raised about $48 million in September 2021. Amongst the investors who have been backing the startup are SBI Ven Capital, Prime Venture partners, Blockchain LPS, Caretech Group and SBI AI.
In 2020-21, MFine had reportedly incurred losses of over Rs 100 crore.