The News:  

Wellbeing solutions provider WebMD Health Services, a part of WebMD Health Corp, announced its intention to acquire employee wellbeing company Limeade. The latter company, which is based in Bellevue, Washington, but publicly traded on the Australian Stock Exchange,  focuses on helping lower employee burnout and turnover via its organizational wellbeing programs that help to spur behavioral change. Limeade will be purchased for approximately AUD$111.5 million in cash, or about US$75 million. The combined entity will have more than 700 employees, and the transaction is expected to close within the next quarter. Post acquisition, Limeade will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of WebMD.  See the complete press release from Limeade here. 

Analyst Take:

Employee wellbeing is an issue that has come to the forefront as companies strive to attract and retain employees. The uncertain economic conditions, job insecurity, layoffs, and the shift back to the office have caused strain on many people.

These two companies offer complementary solutions with a common purpose of creating a healthier and more engaged employee population.

Limeade already has a large base of millions of users in more than 100 countries, and offers solutions for wellbeing and employee listening. The company weaves its approach into where employees already are, with a mobile-first design that can be infused into platforms like Microsoft Teams. Limeade Wellbeing helps send relevant and personalized resources to employees on a variety of topics. It could be information on benefits, connecting employees to the right resources at the right time, and giving managers the support they need to help provide communication, nudges, and activities that will help improve employee connection.

When I interviewed Limeade CEO Henry Albrecht last year, he talked a lot about the science of care, that includes wellbeing, engagement, and inclusion. “They often say employee engagement is the engine of the company. Wellbeing is the fuel in that engine. You can’t have engagement without employee wellbeing.”

WebMD Health Services offers personalized wellbeing solutions as well as engagement services and program success solutions. According to WebMD Health Services General Manager John Harrison, “Our combined solutions and services are refreshing; they encompass holistic wellbeing and listening solutions, condition management and lifestyle health coaching, on-site dedicated wellbeing services, biometric screening services, and a deep partner ecosystem comprised of 20+ curated partners. We will continue to invest in new innovations that drive immersive culture transformation and navigate employees and members to tailored wellbeing programs that improve engagement, provide actionable insights, lower health risks, and reduce health care costs.”

Limeade has a solid foundation for providing wellbeing solutions, based on research conducted by the Limeade Institute, which includes a team of researchers and advisors with deep expertise and advanced degrees in the areas of organizational psychology, psychometrics, data science, and other related fields. With the 2021 acquisition of TinyPulse, the company expanded its employee listening capabilities. However, the company faced some challenges, announcing a restructuring early this year that reshaped its R&D, Product, Customer Operations, Customer Success, Marketing, and Sales teams. The company also lowered its overall headcount by 15%.

The employee experience segment has been getting increasingly crowded as of late, including smaller niche providers as well as large human capital management (HCM) companies touting EX offerings. This combination makes sense, bringing together complementary offerings to create a more comprehensive and science-based technology solution as companies look to keep their staff happy and healthy, hopefully increasing retention and lowering costs.