SAN FRANCISCO — With the economy in freefall amid the coronavirus pandemic, some health tech startups have started to furlough and lay off workers. The cuts underscore that not even digital health — an industry whose offerings are in high demand during the crisis — is immune to an unprecedented financial meltdown.
Diabetes coaching startup Virta Health has laid off some of its employees, primarily from its commercial organization, a company spokesperson confirmed. The company’s website says it has 200 employees, but it’s not clear how many were laid off. The buzzy San Francisco-based company, which uses digital coaching and monitoring to try to help patients reverse type 2 diabetes, was last valued at $538 million, according to PitchBook. A Virta spokesperson attributed the cuts to “the radically changed external economic environment due to Covid-19.”
