Healthtech startup Biofourmis’ founder Kuldeep Singh Rajput has resigned from the position of chief executive officer abruptly.
A Biofourmis spokesperson confirmed the development.
The startup, which raised $300 million in 2022 to join the unicorn club of startups with a valuation of over $1 billion, offers home care solutions to help remotely monitor acute and post-acute patients.
Although it is unclear why Rajput stepped down in such an abrupt manner, two people aware of the development stated that the major backers of the company did not agree with the company's future strategy or its current burn rate.
The exit comes right after the company laid off 120 employees worldwide, including 48 workers in the US.
The company will appoint private equity investor General Altantic's Ben Wanamaker as interim CEO. General Atlantic had led the company's Series D funding round last year. The company also counts SoftBank among its investors.
"The company has instituted an office of the CEO, which includes Maulik Majmudar, chief medical officer and co-founder of Biofourmis; Renika Sehgal, chief financial officer; Milan Shah, chief technology officer; Daniel Song, general counsel and Jaydev Thakkar, chief operating officer,” stated a spokesperson.
The development was first reported by The Business Times.
Founded in 2015 by Rajput and Wendou Niu, Biofourmis recently announced a four-year collaboration with Georgia-based health system Augusta University Health and a multi-year agreement with Florida-based Orlando Health.
The company counts AstraZeneca, Mayo Clinic, and Novartis, among others, as its clients. Other companies in the remote patient monitoring space include Best Buy's Current Health, healthtech company Withings Health Solutions, and virtual care platform Cadence.
The exit also comes at a time when the therapeutics space is going through a turbulent period, especially in the digital therapeutics segment from late 2022 through 2023.
Towards the end of March, Better Therapeutics, a company specialising in prescription digital therapeutics (PDT) for type 2 diabetes, revealed plans to reduce its workforce by 35% as a proactive measure to ensure the long-term success of the company, particularly in anticipation of potential market approval for BT-001, later renamed AspyreRx.
Pear Therapeutics initiated staff reductions in July 2022, initially letting go of approximately 25 employees, which accounted for 9% of its total workforce. A few months later, Pear made further cuts, affecting about 59 employees or 22% of its workforce By March 2023.
