Fundraise Highlights Include New Investment from Top Healthcare VC Optum Ventures and World #1 Ranked Golfer Rory McIlroy
Leading Global Digital Therapeutic Company Sees COVID Environment Drive Meaningful Increase in Demand for Multi-Modal Virtual Therapy Solutions; Lays out Vision for Chronic Disease Management Platform
Kaia Health, a digital therapeutics company focused on helping people manage chronic conditions, today announced that it closed a $26 million Series B funding round, bringing its total funds raised to date to $50 million.
The round was led by Optum Ventures, Idinvest and capital300 with participation from existing investors Balderton Capital and Heartcore Capital, as well as Symphony Ventures (an investment partnership with world #1 golfer Rory McIlroy).
Kaia Health will use the proceeds to drive growth of its core digital therapy solutions for people managing musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, and fund expansion into new conditions such as COPD, where its digitally delivered multi-modal therapy is also clinically effective. The company will continue to invest in its proprietary technology and build on its standing as the industry leader in global 2D motion tracking – which enables users to get real-time feedback on exercise performance using their smartphone’s camera – while moving towards a 3D musculoskeletal model. Kaia also will continue investing heavily in clinical research, and expand its team to accelerate employer and health plan growth.
“Similar to the explosion we’ve seen in doctor to patient telehealth, the healthcare challenges arising from COVID has also highlighted the need for new care delivery models,” said Kaia Founder and President Konstantin Mehl. “This has accelerated adoption of new approaches to care, such as those we’re developing at Kaia, which were already showing great promise. We are excited by the opportunity to drive our business forward given heightened awareness of the merits of digital therapies among payers, companies, care providers and consumers, and the growing importance of delivering care in the home. We believe we are on the precipice of moving our solutions from the early adopter set to mass market, and this funding will help us aggressively expand the reach and impact of our platform.”
Founded in 2016 with an eye on bucking the trend in digital health by bringing clinical rigor to its therapeutic solutions in the form of validating clinical studies, Kaia Health is a digital therapeutics company on a mission to create accessible, evidence-based treatments for a range of chronic conditions. Working alongside medical experts, the company uses its computer vision technology to deliver individualized multi-modal (exercise, education, psychological) interventions, through its Kaia app, that aim to empower and motivate patients to take control and self-manage their condition with digital alternatives from their home using devices they already own.
Kaia Health’s smartphone-based approach to managing chronic conditions uses a proprietary 2D motion tracking technology which, when combined with the platform’s psychological and educational support, has been clinically proven to outperform conventional therapy, as shown in three published peer-reviewed clinical trials. The platform has served over 400,000 users in just four years since launch, and today is the most utilized global digital therapeutics platform.
“Kaia’s conservative and innovative approach to pain management resonated with my early-career experience of back pain. Strengthening my core muscle groups has been central to both my success as a professional golfer and ongoing injury prevention,” said PGA champion Rory McIlroy.
“We see tremendous need for digital therapeutic platforms that can treat chronic disease remotely, cost effectively and at scale,” said Heather Roxborough, a partner at Optum Ventures. “We are encouraged by Kaia’s initial success addressing chronic pain and their expansion into COPD, as they help people simply and effectively manage chronic conditions using devices already in a patient’s homes, including smartphones and tablets. We look forward to supporting and working closely with Kaia’s team on their next phase of growth.”
Mehl concluded, “We are fortunate to have well-regarded new and existing investors believe in our ability to execute against our mission to bring best-in-class therapies to people living with chronic conditions around the world. We look forward to delivering on that opportunity.”