Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
Direct-to-consumer health startup Thirty Madison is significantly narrowing its business to focus on women's health and hair loss, four sources familiar tell Axios.
Why it matters: Facing pressure from DTC heavyweights like Hims and Ro, Thirty Madison is homing in on its strongest categories, per all four sources.
By the numbers: As part of the changes, Thirty Madison laid off roughly 21 people, a company representative told Axios, including its chief financial officer and head of communications, per two of the sources.
- That's a 5% reduction in force, per the representative.
Between the lines: Thirty Madison's "house of brands" strategy — Keeps for hair loss, Cove for migraines, Picnic for allergies — faced challenges including leadership overlap and difficulties consistently turning a profit, per all four people.
- When the company merged with women's health startup Nurx in 2022, those challenges mounted, all four said.
- Cove continues to operate, but Picnic has not operated since 2023, per the representative.
Catch up quick: Since launching in 2017, Thirty Madison had been expanding at a rapid clip. It launched Picnic in 2021, announced plans for a brick-and-mortar hair loss treatment center in 2022, and created additional verticals for sleep and dermatology that same year.
💠My thought bubble: Thirty Madison is staring down a missed opportunity to own the GLP-1 space, where both Ro and Hims have successfully cashed in.
Follow the money: Thirty Madison was last valued at $1.04 billion, according to PitchBook data.
- The company has raised over $210 million from investors including CVS Health Ventures and Comcast Ventures.
- Nurx, founded in 2015, raised $110 million and was last valued at $322.5 million, according to PitchBook.
What they're saying: In a statement emailed to Axios, Thirty Madison co-founder and now CEO Demetri Karagas said the company was "reorganizing to streamline focus and operations around our leading patient offerings, Nurx and Keeps."
- As part of that reorganization, it is "making organizational changes, including a strategic restructuring of the business and a transition in leadership."
- Former CEO Steve Gutentag will now serve on the company's board of directors and former president Michelle Carnahan will become a senior adviser, per the statement.
The bottom line: The changes at Thirty Madison reflect a leaner digital health landscape that is reckoning with tighter budgets and constrained resources.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify that Thirty Madison does offer GLP-1s.
