Afrigather 54gene, the Washington-based Nigerian genomic firm, has carried out one other spherical of layoffs. This time, in keeping with two sources near the occasion, about 10 staff had been affected, representing 25% of its already lean workforce. Per our supply, the corporate now has lower than 30 individuals working throughout its features.
54gene, in an electronic mail responding to TechCabal’s enquiry, confirmed the brand new layoffs. A part of the e-mail reads: “54gene’s new management is concentrated on prioritising the corporate’s core mission and positioning the corporate for future success, and which means sure roles had been redefined or eradicated in current months.”
54gene started 2022 with over 300 staffers, however by the top of the 12 months, its headcount had dropped to only 39 individuals, owing to an nearly dried-out runway. This crunch led to a down spherical funding that marked down the corporate’s valuation from $175 million to $50 million, and the exit of its co-founder and CEO, Abasi Ene-Obong, final October. The board of the corporate put in the corporate’s then basic counsel, Teresia Bost, as interim CEO. Final week, the corporate announced a complete overhaul of its management because it seems to boost further funding. Bost has moved into an advisory function, and Ron Chiarello, a San Francisco-based serial entrepreneur, is now the CEO.
In keeping with one supply who spoke to TechCabal, the whole advertising and marketing, gross sales, and compliance departments have been disbanded, and their roles are actually shuffled amongst the remaining staff and contracted exterior businesses. The corporate has maintained that its main focus will likely be on genomic analysis, which it initially began with. Nonetheless, a supply claimed that there are at present solely six individuals manning this core providing. 54gene’s genomic analysis has three arms: sequencing, biobank, and genotyping—which means two persons are working in every sector.
Following the layoffs, it’s evident that the corporate wants extra palms in its focal space, “else fatigue may drive staff to give up with out being laid off,” stated one other supply aware of the corporate’s state of affairs. The corporate appears to be in tune with this, as elements of its electronic mail confirmed that going ahead, “our hiring will align to our core mission.”
The corporate additionally claims that obligations to the affected staff had been fulfilled.
