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More than 100 Aussie start-up workers to receive overnight windfall

Employee shareholders at an Aussie start-up are set for a big pay day after the company was acquired for $1.6 billion.

Digital health company Eucalyptus was acquired by American telehealth company Hims and Hers for $1.6 billion late last week.

The seven-year-old Australian business owns online weight loss services Juniper and Pilot, which prescribe GLP-1 medication similar to Ozempic and Mounjaro.

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Eucalyptus founder Tim Doyle at the AFR Entrepreneur Summit in 2023.

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Eucalyptus also runs other telehealth services including a fertility program.

The sale will lead to one of the biggest staff share pay-outs in Australian corporate history and give early-stage backers a big pay day.

The Australian Financial Review has reported the value of the shares under the deal, excluding its co-founders, was about $300 million.

The average employee participant is expected to pocket $420,000, with more than 100 to benefit from the sale.

The AFR reported former Eucalyptus chief commercial officer Joe Harris made more than $1 million from the sale.

Eucalyptus chief executive and co-founder Tim Doyle is in line for $163 million by 2029 if he hits several targets.

Early investors including Blackbird Ventures, Who Gives a Crap toilet paper founder Simon Griffiths and Co Ventures founder Maxine Minter will also benefit from the acquisition.

Doyle described the acquisition as a "full circle moment" for the start-up.

"When we were launching Eucalyptus, we drew inspiration from Hims & Hers," he said.

"Hims & Hers is the best-positioned business in the world to be the home for consumer health.

"This is also a moment to look backward and say thank you – to our investors, staff, clinicians, partners and our patients."

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