The Montreal techno AlayaCare, in which Investissement Québec (IQ) and the Caisse de depot et placement du Québec have invested heavily, has just made major layoffs.
Some 80 employees, spread across Canada, the United States and Australia, have seen their positions abolished, confirmed yesterday at the Journal, Adrian Schauer, CEO of the company.
In addition, leases have been terminated – in Victoria and New York – and acquisition projects have been put on hold or postponed.
“It was difficult. Nobody likes having to make that kind of decision. But now that it’s done, I feel more comfortable with our level of spending,” said its CEO in an interview.
From growth to profitability
Founded in 2014, AlayaCare specializes in designing and selling software for the home healthcare industry. The company now has only 600 employees, including 170 in Montreal.
Management denies experiencing financial difficulties. Rather, she explains her decision by a paradigm shift in the venture capital world.
“Until recently, only growth mattered,” he says. This is no longer the case today ; the market now attaches much greater importance to corporate profitability. »
For AlayaCare, which projects sales of $70 million in 2022, this change has resulted in the imposition of a target of achieving profitability before the end of 2023. Hence a necessary tightening of expenses and the announced cuts.
Repeated investments
AlayaCare’s customers are mostly private home care companies. Public health systems also use its services. Domestically, the company has customers in British Columbia, Ontario and Newfoundland, among other places. But not yet in Quebec, where its head office is located.
A little over a year ago, in June 2021, the company completed a $225 million financing round, in which the Caisse and Investissement Québec participated. For the two financial arms of Quebec, this was their third investment in AlayaCare.
La Caisse, IQ and Inovia invested an initial $51 million in 2019. Six months later, in January 2020, the same trio reinjected $37 million.