Insurtech platform Policygenius lays off 25% of its workforce after raising $125 million in 3 months

Insurtech platform Policygenius has laid off 25 per cent of its workforce, less than 3 months after raising $125 million.

Jamisson Buck, a life insurance agent at Policygenius, wrote in a LinkedIn post late on Thursday that the company has made the "extremely difficult decision to lay off 25 per cent of its staff".

"I unfortunately was part of that layoff. I want to thank the entire team for the last 19 months. It's now time to search for the next opportunity," wrote Buck.

According to reports, the number of employees affected are around 170.

In a statement to TechCrunch, Jennifer Fitzgerald, CEO and co-founder of Policygenius, said that as with many companies, the sudden and dramatic shift in the economy has "forced us to adapt our strategy".

"After careful consideration, we announced the difficult and necessary decision to reduce the size of our workforce. With these changes, we remain confident in the future of our company, our continued innovation, and the excellent service we continue to provide our customers every day," she was quoted as saying.

During its Series E funding round in March, Policygenius said that its home and auto insurance business had "grown significantly, with new written premiums having increased "more than 6x from 2019 to 2021."

"Policygenius continues to be the only tech-enabled brokerage and distribution platform to have successfully scaled and diversified across life and home and auto insurance," it had said in a statement.

"The company will use the new capital to continue to invest in the growth of its core businesses of life, disability, home, and auto insurance, as well as new no-exam life insurance offerings and Policygenius Pro."

Policygenius has raised over $250 million from investors such as KKR, Norwest Venture Partners and Revolution Ventures.

As VC money disappears amid economic slowdown, tech startups have laid off over 20,000 employees the world over since April, while more than 8,000 employees have lost jobs at the Indian startups led by edtech platforms.