Hollis Johnson / Business Insider
The microbiome testing company uBiome has come under scrutiny after an FBI raid.
- Microbiome-testing startup uBiome is laying off 114 employees, or about half its staff.
- uBiome was founded in 2012 and raised $105 million from investors to explore the microbiome, a "forgotten organ."
- The FBI raided uBiome's headquarters in April, reportedly related to the company's billing practices.
- Two months later, all 3 top execs at uBiome left their posts, Business Insider reported. Three new executives from the consulting firm Goldin Associates were brought in to replace them.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Microbiome-testing company uBiome is laying off half its staff as the troubled startup looks for a path forward.
The company is cutting 114 of the 229 people it current employs, according to a source familiar with the layoffs. 42 are employees based in the US, while 72 layoffs are occuring in Latin America, the person said. uBiome is planning to keep its labs open.
"As we work to implement a go-forward plan for uBiome, we are making changes to the Company's organizational structure that impact certain teams and positions," Curtis Solsvig, the new interim uBiome CEO and a director at Goldin Associates, said in a statement provided to Business Insider.
uBiome accidentally informed some of its workers they were being let go on Monday in a payroll error, according to four current and former uBiome employees. After the accidental notification, Solsvig called an emergency meeting, the people said.
It has been a turbulent few months for uBiome, whose tests rely on samples of human poop. At the end of June, all three of the company's top executives left their posts, Business Insider reported.
Cofounders and co-CEOs Zachary Apte and Jessica Richman resigned, after having been placed on administrative leave on the heels of an FBI raid in April. The raid was reportedly part of an investigation into uBiome's billing practices. John Rakow, uBiome's general counsel and interim CEO as of May 1, also departed. In a message to Business Insider, Rakow said he left to spend more time with family.
To run the company, the board appointed three new executives from the consulting firm Goldin Associates, including Solsvig.
Trouble at uBiome has been brewing for years, Business Insider previously reported.
