Eucalyptus Shifts Focus from Woolworths to Weight Loss

Health tech start-up Eucalyptus is moving away from a high-profile retail partnership with Woolworths in favour of targeting the booming weight-loss drug market, raising questions about long-term strategy, scale, and revenue potential.

For over a year, Eucalyptus has partnered with Woolworths via its HealthyLife platform, giving the grocer a stake in the fast-growing telehealth business. However, the start-up now appears to be changing tack, chasing growth by offering online prescriptions for popular treatments like Wegovy, a GLP-1 drug known for helping users lose up to 15% of their body weight.

Eucalyptus operates several digital health brands, including platforms focused on general wellness, fertility, men’s health, and skincare. Recently, their weight-loss service has led the charge in subscriber growth. Since it launched in 2023, tens of thousands have signed up, and the weight-loss segment now dominates the company’s revenue stream. Despite this, Eucalyptus is pulling back on the Woolworths collaboration and dialling up investment in its clinical care model focused on obesity treatment.

The pivot to prescription-based weight-loss care looks like a bet on scale and margin, but it also introduces regulatory complexity and long-term clinical accountability. At the same time, distancing from Woolworths may strain access to customers already browsing for health products. Still, with surging interest in GLP-1 medications and a growing base of engaged users, the upside appears to outweigh the risk, at least for now.

Source: Australian Financial Review, Startup Daily, Forbes.