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Figs boosts board, including Credit Karma CEO and ex-Amazon and P&G execs

Richard Collings
Illustration of scrubs on a hanger with a dollar bill overlay

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Figs, a digitally native healthcare apparel brand, is adding three new directors to its board, including former Procter & Gamble CEO A. G. Lafley, Credit Karma CEO Kenneth Lin and former Amazon exec Jeffrey Wilke.

Why it matters: Like a number of direct-to-consumer companies that went public last year, the scrubs maker's stock has suffered since it peaked at about $50 per share in late June last year.

  • It has recovered some lost ground in recent weeks: Yesterday alone the stock was up more than 6%, closing at just above $22 per share.

Details: It's the latest move by Figs, a little more than a week after billionaire investor and insider Thomas Tull increased his existing stake.

  • That combined with recent quarterly earnings has helped it regain some investor confidence.
  • "We were getting bucketed ... with other DTC companies that weren't profitable.," cofounder and co-CEO Trina Spear tells Axios.
  • "We're incredibly profitable," she said, however, pointing out that the company had a 70%-plus gross margin in 2021 and is guiding the same for 2022.

Between the lines: Figs was singled out in February as a potential target for PE given the steep fall in its valuation alongside continued growth and, as noted, profitability.

  • But Figs would prefer to stay public, as PE's focus is to cut costs, cofounder and co-CEO Heather Hasson tells Axios.
  • That's because the company doesn't want to be constrained as it pursues expansion in the U.S., where it has market share of nearly 3%, and overseas, where it is currently doing no business.

Of note: In addition to scrubs, the company makes lifestyle products like compression socks and outerwear, constituting 17% of revenue.

  • Longer term the company could look at making uniforms for other professions, but the focus for now is healthcare, Spear said.

Meanwhile: Figs is open to making acquisitions, although a frequent debate internally is over whether to build or to buy, Hasson said.

  • If the company were to purchase a business, it would be of technology, healthcare product or innovative material that could be used in a product, she said.

The big picture: How Figs is selling scrubs and other healthcare apparel is a far cry from the days when such items were sold in medical supply stores alongside bed pans.

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