A Bengaluru-based software professional has shared how they turned down a £60,000-a-year job at a London-based healthcare startup and later saw the company raise £3 million in funding.
The professional, who shared the experience on X, said the offer came about four months before the post. The role was focused on growth and required the candidate to work from London. The annual pay was about £60,000 before tax, which was roughly Rs 77 lakh at the exchange rate cited in the account.
The decision was not based on salary alone. The professional said several practical concerns made them hesitant about relocating to the UK and joining the early-stage company.
Rejects London Job Offer
According to the post, the professional considered the high cost of living in the UK, the absence of visa sponsorship and limited experience in the healthcare sector before declining the offer.
They also raised concerns about the founders being relatively new and the uncertainty around job security at an early-stage startup. The combination of these factors led the Bengaluru-based professional to decide against pursuing the role.
In the X post, the professional wrote, “I was excited, but hesitant cause of multiple reasons,” before listing compensation, living costs, visa sponsorship, domain experience, the founders and job security among the factors behind the decision.
Startup Later Raises Funds
The decision gained a different perspective several months later when the professional came across an update about the same startup on LinkedIn.
The post said the healthcare startup had raised £3 million, or more than Rs 38 crore, in pre-seed and seed funding. The professional also noted that the company was hiring for several positions and that further investment could follow.
The development led the tech professional to reflect on what might have happened if they had accepted the earlier offer and joined the startup at a much earlier stage.
Techie Reconsiders Choice
“Today I saw Chad’s LinkedIn post that they raised £3 million in pre-seed/seed with more to come and are hiring extensively,” the professional wrote on X.
The post also acknowledged that joining the startup would not necessarily have produced a better outcome. “Had I taken that offer and bet on the founders, life would’ve been completely different,” they wrote, while adding that they did not know whether the decision to decline the role had been right or wrong.
The account highlights the uncertainty involved in taking jobs at early-stage startups, particularly when the decision involves moving to another country. A strong funding round can change the prospects of a young company, but it does not remove the risks associated with an early-stage role.
Startup Jobs Carry Risk
For professionals evaluating startup jobs, factors such as salary, location, visa arrangements and career fit can matter alongside the potential upside of joining a growing business. In this case, the candidate chose not to relocate because several of those factors created uncertainty at the time.
The later funding announcement does not establish what the professional would have earned or how their career would have developed had they accepted the offer. It only provides a different outcome against which the earlier decision is now being viewed.
The professional also said the decision had felt right when it was made. That distinction is important because startup outcomes are difficult to predict before funding, hiring and business growth become visible.
Startups in Bengaluru
Bengaluru remains one of the major startup and technology centres in India, with a large base of software professionals, founders, investors and technology companies. The city has a strong presence across sectors including software, fintech, healthcare technology and enterprise technology.
For professionals working in Bengaluru, overseas startup offers can therefore involve a choice between a higher international salary and the risks or opportunities associated with relocation. The experience shared by the techie shows how such decisions can look different when a startup raises substantial capital several months later.
London healthcare startup is now expanding its hiring after raising £3 million, according to the LinkedIn update cited in the post. For the professional who declined the offer, however, the funding announcement remains a reminder of how difficult it can be to judge an early-stage company before its next phase of growth becomes visible.
