In a surprise to absolutely no one, health technology startup uBiome has filed for bankruptcy. In what was the year from hell for the company, first they were raided by the FBI, then they suspended clinical operations, then were caught billing customers multiple times without their consent, then pressured doctors to approve tests without permission... you get the picture.
As uBiome tries to find a buyer, we take a look to the alternative data it has created as it grew, and then failed.
You can see that line going down is bad, clearly. The company has already lost a third of its staff, and it's going to keep going that way for quite some time unless there is a miracle. That's where the company knew it was going under, and either people jumped ship or they just had to remove as many employees to save money and save face. The real spike downwards was around May, when the FBI raided the uBiome offices.
Even though our data stops at 2018, we imagine things don't get any better for 2019, considering the string of bad news. This chart shows how a company going bankrupt is no longer hiring. Although we do have to note that a company can still operate and come back from a chapter 11 filing, so just wanted to get that out of the way.
The only good news? People are interested in a dumpster fire! Watch as they check out the disaster by rubbernecking on Twitter. It's fun to make these kinds of jokes but we don't love to see people lose their jobs. Although we don't like to see criminal mismanagement either, so make of that what you will.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.