namea health coaching platform worth $3.7 billion last year is laying off some of its staff for the second time in a few months, londonbusinessblog.com has learned from sources.
Noom has laid off 10% of its staff, or about 500 people, which is a reduction that mainly affects the coaching team. It is the second layoff to affect Noom’s coaching team in a few months, affecting hundreds of employees.
“Noom has experienced extraordinary growth in recent years and it is essential that we are structured in such a way that we can continue to grow in the long term,” a Noom spokesperson said via email. “We recently made the difficult decision to reduce the number of Noom employees. We are very grateful to them for their contributions to Noom and wish them every success.” Noom declined to answer questions about the scale of layoffs, divorce packages and strategy beyond this statement.
The startup, which has raised more than $650 million in funding since its launch in 2008is known in part for its controversial approach to weight loss and dieting. Now, however, it shows tensions from a staff front. Noom’s downscaling of its coaching services suggests a departure from the platform’s original pitch of combining intelligent nutrition with exercise coaching. In 2020, Noom achieved sales of $400 million with this strategy. A year later, Noom expanded his coaching services with the launch of a vertical mental health service.
The current website gives a glimpse of how Noom thinks, or at least thought, about coaching as a strategy.
“Welcome to the Noomily”, Noom’s website reads. “Our coaches guide users with empathy and compassion through the ups and downs of the weight loss journey. They help users better understand themselves through personalized action plans based on their individual goals, preferences and lifestyle.”
The coach landing page goes on to explain the daily life of a Noom coach, which ranges from helping clients develop “a healthy lifestyle” and “contributing to the growth of something great”. Coaches can enroll in health plans after 90 days of employment, the website says.
Now, however, that ad has a different tone. The company is reportedly moving more towards scheduled video calling rather than live chat.
According to a memo obtained by londonbusinessblog.com, Noom’s co-founders, Artem Petakov and Saeju Jeong, addressed the layoffs of employees and said it was critical for the company to “manage spending, increase efficiency and be more effective.” in how we achieve our mission,” despite “significantly improving” corporate finances.
“Today’s decisions put us in a position where we can continue to place big bets in the coming year, innovate and grow in the coming years,” the co-founders wrote in the internal memo. Today’s resignation comes just as the company’s CFO, Mike Noonan, is leaving to join TripAdvisor. reports the Wall Street Journal. A spokesperson for Noom said via email that the layoffs and the departure of the CFO are two “separate, unrelated announcements.”
In the internal memo, the co-founders went on to say that the startup’s big commitment is to create a more comprehensive mind and body platform with a higher degree of personalization. The co-founders nodded their business offering as “another bet that has the potential to dramatically expand our customer base.”
“Finally, we may see some unfriendly headlines in the coming days, but ask you to focus on what matters most right now: looking after our departing colleagues like family, treating them with humanity and respect,” the co-founders wrote.
The company was last known to reportedly have plans for an IPO in 2022, at a valuation of $10 billion.
Current and former Noom employees can contact Natasha Mascarenhas via email at [email protected] or on Signal, a secure encrypted messaging app, at 925 271 0912.