Jasper Health, a cancer care platform startup, has laid off a substantial portion of its workforce, TechCrunch has learned. Engineering and product design are among the departments affected by the cuts, according to LinkedIn posts by affected employees.
TechCrunch could not independently verify the exact number of people who were removed, but an industry source who knew the affected people believes it was about half of Jasper Health's small team. According to PitchBook data, Jasper Health had about 48 employees before the cuts.
The company's co-founder and CEO, Adam Pellegrini, did not respond to TechCrunch's request for comment. TechCrunch's attempts to reach Jasper Health's chief operating officer, chief growth officer and chief marketing officer via email were unsuccessful and messages returned.
Just over two years ago, in February 2022, Jasper Health raised a $25 million Series A led by General Catalyst, with participation from Human Capital, W Health Ventures, Redesign Health, and 7wireVentures. At the time, the company said it had raised a total of $31 million in venture capital.
Most significantly, Jasper is a General Catalyst portfolio company. The venture capital firm is one of the most active healthcare investors. It's so serious about bringing new startup-led technology to the U.S. healthcare system that earlier this year, the venture capital firm bought an Ohio-based health system called Suma Health, a unprecedented movement in venture capital. But clearly, that doesn't mean all GC-backed healthtech startups will prosper to the right without a hitch.
Jasper also stands out because it was conceived and launched in 2018 by Redesign Health, a venture firm and studio that creates healthcare startups. Led by CEO Brett Shaheen (previously at Lone Pine Capital and Carlyle Group), Redesign says it has created 50 healthcare startups that have collectively raised $1.3 billion. Redesign, which itself is backed by LPs such as General Catalyst, CVS Health Ventures and Samsung Next, also had its own layoffs earlier this year. tech/redesign-health-reduces-workforce-it-slows-down-pace-new-company-launches-2024″>Fierce Healthcare reported.
Jasper's digital yet human-driven platform offers care navigation, patient support, and remote patient monitoring. The company also provides psychosocial care. It says about 12% of its users are in cancer remission.
Pelligrini, the company's founder, began his career as a surgical specialist in the US Army. He also helped create the American Cancer Society website, which provides information to patients and caregivers about the disease. Prior to founding Jasper, he was senior vice president of virtual care and consumer health innovation at CVS Health.
Jasper Health's competitors include Thyme Care and Reimagine Care.
