Levels announces $12M seed round
Levels raises $12M seed round led by a16z to bring biowearables into the mainstream and improve metabolic health and fitness.
Levels Community:
We’re thrilled to share the following announcement about an exciting step in Levels’ mission to bring better metabolic health to the world. This round of seed funding not only gives us the resources to keep improving the Levels experience and reach more people, but also demonstrates the shared belief across the investor community that real-time biometrics are the key to unlocking lasting behavior change and long-term health. In fact, we heard so many positive things from this all-star group of early funders, we included a few of our favorite quotes at the bottom of the release. Thank you for your early support.
With health,__The Levels Team
Levels Raises $12M Seed Round to Bring Biowearables into the Mainstream and Improve Metabolic Health
Category-Defining Biowearable System Provides Real-Time Glucose Data to Optimize Diet, Improve Performance, and Accelerate Recovery
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 17, 2020 — Levels, the first biowearable system to provide real-time feedback on how your diet impacts your health, today announced a $12 million seed round led by a16z, one of Silicon Valley’s top venture capital firms whose portfolio includes Airbnb, Facebook, Instagram, Lyft, Pinterest, Slack, Stripe and Waymo. The round also includes participation from angel investors including Marc Randolph (co-founder and first CEO of Netflix), Dick Costolo (former CEO of Twitter), Michael Arrington (Founder of TechCrunch), and Matt Dellavedova (NBA, Cleveland Cavaliers).
In the same way fitness trackers are commonly worn to quantify physical activity and exercise, Levels measures the impact of one’s diet and lifestyle on metabolic health by pairing continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology with intelligent software.
“You shouldn’t need a PhD in nutrition or human physiology to know what to eat for lunch. Levels is the first product that takes the guesswork out of daily lifestyle choices with personalized, objective data,” said Josh Clemente, Levels Founder and President. “By leveraging continuous glucose monitoring, Levels helps users close the loop between overall health and daily choices around food, exercise, sleep, and stress management to support long-term metabolic health.”
Only 12% of the U.S. population is considered metabolically healthy. Today, over 120 million Americans have prediabetes or diabetes, and 84% of people with prediabetes don’t even know they have it. Levels published their Secret Master Plan to explain how they’ll reverse this trend by promoting behavior change based on personal data.
“We invested in Levels because metabolic dysfunction is an incredibly important problem, and their rate of execution on solving this problem is on par with the best companies we’ve seen,” said Jeff Jordan, Managing Partner, a16z. “Consumers are increasingly health conscious, and increasingly leverage real tech tools and data to improve their health. Levels provides a veritable ‘divining rod’ for improved metabolic health.”
The month-long Levels program includes two 14-day CGM sensors and access to the Levels app, which provides real-time analysis on how food, exercise, and other lifestyle decisions are impacting your health. Currently in a closed beta, Levels has a 50,000+ person waitlist and will be available for consumer purchase in early 2021.
“Optimizing metabolic function can improve energy, endurance, memory, mood, and cognitive performance. Seven of the 10 leading causes of death in the US are strongly related to metabolic dysfunction,” said Dr. Casey Means, Co-founder of Levels. “Levels helps you improve metabolic fitness by alerting you to foods that negatively impact glucose levels. Armed with this information, you can take control of your metabolic health and make healthier lifestyle decisions.”
“Too many smart people focus on small problems. Levels has picked something big and important to solve – and I love it,” said Marc Randolph, co-founder and first CEO of Netflix. “They’re improving metabolic health and, by extension, the lives of millions of people. It’s an ambitious goal, but they’re the team to do it. The progress they’ve made in a short amount of time blows me away. I’m thrilled to join as an investor and mentor.”
“The two most fundamental levers for our health––diet and exercise––remain shrouded in generalities and unrealistic advice. By harnessing CGMs, wearables, data science, and the latest advances in biology and medicine, Levels provides critical information to help consumers take control of diet and exercise, while making real, fundamental improvements in their health,” said Vijay Pande, PhD and General Partner, a16z. “Preventing metabolic dysfunction is one of the 21st century’s greatest health challenges, and Levels addresses the epidemic head on.”
Additional Investor Quotes:
> I had to try Levels before investing; as soon as I did, I knew how valuable this was going to be to people. To have instant feedback on what food and exercise are doing to your glucose levels allows you to make better choices because you can experiment. This is a company that is really going to change a lot of people’s lives and quality of life for the better, and I’m really excited to be involved.
–Matthew “Delly” Dellavedova, NBA player (Cleveland Cavaliers)
> Working as a clinician I’ve seen the power of acting on biometrics when people have access to them. The problem is that people are gated to information about their own bodies with complex and expensive barriers. The future of medicine is empowering people with their own biometrics, and Levels is the first company doing that in a meaningful way.
–Dr. Anthony Gustin, Founder of Perfect Keto
> We have real-time data and metrics on the stuff we own: the mileage of our cars, the usage of water in our house, the performance of our 401k retirement accounts, etcetera. Yet, with our most important asset — our own health — we’re stuck in the stone ages without any access to our metabolic metrics and data. Levels is solving this massive problem in our broken healthcare model, and I’m so excited to invest and support the team in making our civilization healthier.
—Geoff Woo, Founder of HVMN
About Levels:
Levels makes it easy for people to see how their diet is affecting both their health and their lifestyle in a quantifiable way by measuring biomarkers in real time. We are expanding access to continuous glucose monitoring and making it mainstream, focused on people looking to find their optimal diet and improve their metabolic fitness. Our customers are losing weight, optimizing exercise performance, and developing ideal versions of their dietary philosophy of choice.
Casey Means MD (Stanford), Josh Clemente (SpaceX, Hyperloop), Sam Corcos (CarDash, Y Combinator), David Flinner (Google), and Andrew Conner (Google) founded Levels to reverse the trend of metabolic dysfunction. More than 10% of the United States is diabetic and it’s increasing globally at an increasing rate—84 million Americans are prediabetic and 70% will be diabetic within 10 years. We’re starting with the performance and athletic market to build brand credibility and thought leadership and moving into mainstream health and wellness in 2021.
Media Contact:
Ross Fenton, Jack Taylor PR, 415-722-3489, [email protected]
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