Start-up layoffs: Tiger Global, Sequoia-backed Plum dismisses 10% of its workforce

In the latest round of start-up layoffs, Tiger Global-backed employee health insurance platform Plum is letting go of 10 per cent of its workforce. The insurtech start-up told Business Today that it is “committed to extending all possible support to the employees during this period which includes severance pay, healthcare benefits, well-being counseling, ESOP vesting, and dedicated placement and career support.”

In a statement, Abhishek Poddar, Co-founder and CEO of Plum, said, "We have 36 team members who are departing Plum, which is around 10 per cent of our team. Doing right by our customers and our shareholders means embracing market conditions and building within the constraints of the new world we operate in, which has led us to take certain hard calls.”

Bengaluru-based Plum offers group employee health insurance to over 2,000 companies, mainly startups and SMEs. Its platform provides coverage (including expenses such as hospitalisation, quarantine, ICU, etc.) for employees and their spouses, children, parents, and siblings. It also provides a plan for tax benefits, COVID-19 cover, and critical illnesses.

Back in May 2021, Plum had raised $15.7 million in a Series A round led by Tiger Global, Sequoia Surge, and others. Overall, the start-up has raised $20.7 million, including via seed and angel rounds. It also counts prominent founders including Kunal Shah of CRED, Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini of Unacademy, and Harsh Jain of Dream11, among its investors.

In an earlier interaction with Business Today, Poddar had shared, “We have built Plum very efficiently so far, and have over 75 per cent of our investor’s money lying with us which we intend to use over the course of a couple of years to expand our business.”

Plum claimed to have clocked Rs 300 crore in annual premium, and registered 700 per cent growth in FY22. Over the last two years, it also recorded an increase in the average sum insured in its policies from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh per family.

“We will continue to challenge the status quo and remain committed to insuring 10 million lives by 2025,” Poddar added.

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