Cancer treatment platform startup Jasper Health has laid off a significant portion of its workforce, TechCrunch has learned. Engineering and product design were among the departments affected by the cuts, according to posts on LinkedIn by affected employees.
TechCrunch could not independently confirm the exact number of people laid off, but industry sources with knowledge of those affected believe they represent about half of Jasper Health's small team. Jasper Health had about 48 employees before the cuts, according to PitchBook data.
Adam Pellegrini, the company's co-founder and CEO, did not respond to TechCrunch's request for comment. Attempts by TechCrunch to reach Jasper Health's chief operating officer, chief growth officer and director of marketing via email were unsuccessful and messages were bounced.
A little over two years ago, in February 2022, Jasper Health raised a $25 million Series A investment led by General Catalyst with participation from Human Capital, W Health Ventures, Redesign Health, and 7wireVentures. At the time, the company announced that it had raised a total of $31 million in venture capital.
Most importantly, Jasper is a General Catalyst portfolio company. VC firms are among the most active healthcare investors. It's so serious about bringing new, startup-driven technologies into the U.S. healthcare system that earlier this year a VC firm purchased an Ohio-based healthcare system called Suma Health, an unprecedented move in venture capital. However, this does not mean that all GC-backed medtech startups will continue to thrive without setbacks.
Jasper is also noteworthy in that it was conceived and launched in 2018 by Redesign Health, a venture company and studio that creates new healthcare companies. Redesign, run by CEO Brett Shaheen (formerly of Lone Pine Capital and Carlyle Group), said it has founded 50 healthcare startups that have raised a total of $1.3 billion. Redesign, which is backed by LPs such as General Catalyst, CVS Health Ventures and Samsung Next, also suffered layoffs of its own earlier this year, Fierce Healthcare reported.
Jasper's digital yet human-led platform provides treatment navigation, patient support, and remote patient monitoring. The company also provides psychosocial therapy. About 12% of users say their cancer is in remission.
Company founder Pelligrini began his career as a surgeon in the U.S. Army. He also helped build the American Cancer Society website, which provides information about the disease to patients and caregivers. Prior to founding Jasper, he served as senior vice president of virtual care and consumer health innovation at CVS Health.
Jasper Health's competitors include Thyme Care and Reimagine Care.
