- US healthtech startup Levels has raised $12 million in seed funding led by Silicon Valley fund a16z.
- Levels provides wearable tech which provides real-time feedback about how your diet affects your health and could help improve metabolic function.
- "With COVID cases rising it's critical to remember the impact obesity and diabetes has on covid death rates," Dr Casey Means, Levels cofounder, told Business Insider in an interview. "This is the lowest hanging fruit in the fight against current and future viral illnesses and our resistance to them."
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Metabolic diseases are a major issue.
Only 12% of the U.S. population is considered metabolically healthy, according to NHANES research. Today, over 120 million Americans have pre-diabetes or diabetes, and 84% of people with prediabetes don't even know they have it. In the midst of a global health pandemic, understanding underlying health conditions is more important than ever.
One potential solution is a better real-time appreciation of physical health. California-based health tech startup Levels is aiming to do just that. The startup, founded last year, provides wearable tech which provides real-time feedback on how your diet is affecting your health – and could help improve metabolic function.
The company has just raised $12 million in seed funding, led by a16z (Andreessen Horowitz) via its bio fund led by general partner Vijay Pande. Levels measures the impact of a person's diet and lifestyle on metabolic health by pairing continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology with intelligent software.
"Metabolic health lies at the intersection of current health and future chronic diseases which has an impact on endurance, energy, mood, and athletic performance," Dr Casey Means, Levels cofounder, told Business Insider in an interview.
"With COVID cases rising, it's critical to remember the impact obesity and diabetes has on covid death rates. This is the lowest hanging fruit in the fight against current and future viral illnesses and our resistance to them."
Funding conversations with a16z started late last year with most of the discussions taking place over video call. "The process was lengthy given how much covid intervenes in peoples' schedules," Levels cofounder Josh Clemente told Business Insider in an interview. "a16z are always looking for opportunities to add value and support their portfolio companies and have a great track record."
Currently in a closed beta, Levels has a 45,000+ person waitlist and will be available for consumer purchase in early 2021. The funding will be used to continue product development efforts, as well as bringing in new hires in engineering, data science, and marketing and operations.
"We are investing at the intersection of tech and health," Pande told Business Insider in an interview. "We were impressed by how they've built the company. Levels reflects a wider trend in people wanting to take more control of their healthcare."
The round also includes participation from angel investors including Marc Randolph (cofounder and founding CEO of Netflix), Dick Costolo (former CEO of Twitter), Michael Arrington (founder of TechCrunch), and Matt Dellavedova (NBA, Cleveland Cavaliers).
Check out Levels' pitch deck below: