12 health and fitness startups that will boom in 2019, according to VCs
- Health and fitness are two very personal areas that many people cannot manage on their own.
- It's become a big focus of tech companies with apps and devices that can be your workout buddy, calm your mind, and help you manage an illness.
- Here's a list of health tech startups on track to boom in 2019 according to the startup experts - the venture capitalists that watch, advise, and invest in them.
As part of our comprehensive coverage of the startups that will boom in 2019, we asked the startup experts - venture capitalists - to name the startups they think are going to be hot this year.
We asked them to tell us about companies within their portfolio as well as ones they haven't invested in but are hearing good things about.
One group of startups came up over and over again: health and fitness tech. Their picks ranged from companies that are defeating diabetes to those that are improving mental health.
Alma: Coworking for therapists
Company Name: Alma
Funding: $4.5 million
What it does: Alma is a coworking office space specifically for mental health providers that includes access to the tech they need to power their practices. It opened its first facility in New York.
VC: Hayley Barna, First Round
Relationship: Investor
Why it's hot in 2019: "60 million people suffer from mental illness," Barna says and Alma offers therapists a "beautifully designed space, friendly digital tools and a supported community of therapists."
Arterys: AI for medical imaging
Startup: Arterys
Total raised: $44 million
What it does: Arterys offers AI-enabled medical imaging software as a cloud service.
VC: Alfred Lin, Sequoia Capital
Relationship: Investor
Why it's hot in 2019: "It shows the power of technology to help humanity. The company brings the convergence of cloud computing, big data, image processing, and AI applied to healthcare," says Lin.
Benchling: Collaboration for life science professionals
Startup: Benchling
Total raised: $27 million
What it does: Benchling is a data management and collaboration tool for life science, pharma and biological researchers.
VC: Eric Vishria, Benchmark
Relationship: Investor
Why it's hot in 2019: "Benchling provides a platform to accelerate the pace of biotech research, helping researchers track candidates, design experiments, and share results. They're working with over 100,000 scientists and larger organizations like the FDA," says Vishria.
Boulder Care: Digital help for opium addiction recovery
Startup: Boulder Care
Funding: $3.7 million
What it does: Boulder Care offers long-term support for people overcoming opiate addiction, accessible via an app.
VC: Josh Kopelman at First Round
Relationship: Investor
Why it's hot: "Boulder is building a telehealth addiction solution for the modern era partnering with local physicians while leveraging digital expertise to provide the counseling, random testing, care management and adherence verification via their mobile app," Kopelman says.
Calm: Meditation for a calmer mind
Startup: Calm
VC: Napoleon Ta, Founders Fund
Relationship: No relation. Just thinks it's cool.
Total raised: $28 million
What it does: Calm is a popular mobile app for meditation, sleep and overall mental wellness.
Why it's hot in 2019: "Calm is driving a real positive social impact by helping its users alleviate anxiety, depression, insomnia and a number of other ailments," says Ta.
He notes that with 35 million downloads, Calm has outpaced its competitors while raising less money and "still has huge potential to grow by expanding internationally and evolving into a more comprehensive wellness brand."
Mirror: A home portal into live and on-demand fitness classes
Startup: Mirror
VC: Eurie Kim, Forerunner Ventures
Relationship: No relation. Just thinks it's cool.
Total raised: $41 million
What it does: Mirror is a mirror that transforms into a screen that displays live and on-demand fitness classes.
Why it's hot in 2019: "Mirror has a unique angle on providing guided classes across a wider range of fitness types. Pricing is still steep at ~$1500, but Peleton has shown that there is consumer appetite to invest significant dollars in fitness in your home, so Mirror may be the next generation of this trend," says Kim.
Prolon: Fasting with nutrients
Startup: Prolon
Total raised: Not available.
What it does: Prolon offers what it calls a five-day "fasting mimicking" meal program. It uses precise nutrients in combinations that it says will sustain you, but are not recognized as food by the body so they mimic a fasting state.
VC: Victoria Treyger, Felicis Ventures
Relationship: No relation. Just thinks it's cool.
Why it's hot in 2019: The company says it's a scientifically researched program that was originally developed for cancer patients. Intermittent fasting has proven health benefits and Prolon is billed as a wellness reset.
"My new year's resolution is to do it 2X/year," says Treyger.
Tia: A new kind of medical practice for women's health
Company: Tia
Funding: $2.5 million
What it does: Tia is a one-stop-shop for female health, integrating gynecology, wellness and primary care under one roof.
VC: Hayley Barna, First Round Capital; and Victoria Treyger, Felicis Ventures
Relationship: No relation. Both VCs just think it's cool.
Why it's hot in 2019: "Tia was born digitally via the app-based Tia Bot, and that data and engaged community has informed the customer-centric build-out of their first physical clinic," says Barna.
"It's a comprehensive approach for wellness with a focus on nutrition and acupuncture right in the office as well as primary care. And it covers all the stages of a woman's life," says Treyger.
Tonal: A fitness trainer hanging on the wall
Startup: Tonal
Total raised: $36 million
What it does: Tonal offers a personal trainer and weight machine all delivered in the form of a hang-on-the-wall big screen TV.
VC: Roger Lee, Battery Ventures
Relationship: No relation. Just thinks it's cool.
Why it's hot in 2019: "Consumers can get access to a world class gym and trainer without leaving the comfort of their home. It helps that the machine looks great too," says Lee.
Trusted Health: Software for nurses to find jobs
Startup: Trusted Health
VC: Niki Pezeshki, Felicis Ventures
Relationship: Investor
Total raised: Not available.
What it does: Trusted Health helps nurses find jobs, replacing classic recruitment and job negotiations with smart matching and transparency.
Why it's hot in 2019: "Trusted is one of the fastest growing companies in our portfolio, and they are tackling a massive industry that is desperately in need of better technology," says Pezeshki.
Octave: Online mental-health coaching
Startup: Octave
Total raised: $3.25 million
What it does: Octave is a mental health clinic in New York that offers traditional 1:1 therapy as well as online coaching and a variety of classes.
VC: Sundeep Peechu, Felicis Ventures
Relationship: Investor
Why it's hot in 2019: "Octave’s mission is to create a society that is as proactive and consistent about its emotional well being as its physical fitness," says Peechu.
Virta Health: reversing diabetes through diet
Startup: Virta Health
Total raised: $74 million
What it does: Virta is a diabetes treatment app that offers continuous access to board-certified health providers who monitor the patient, coach through diet choices to reduce dependence on medication.
VC: Sundeep Peechu, Felicis Ventures
Relationship: No relation. Just thinks it's cool.
"They’re able to reverse diabetes through diet — no medications or surgery needed. It’s a vast improvement over the current standard of care which is a lifetime of pills or insulin injections," says Peechu.