In the latest startup to join the war against diabetes, Sweetch has raised $3.5 million in a Series A round led by equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd and Philips, according to the website, NoCamels. The company is focused not on people who have been diagnosed with the chronic condition, but for those who are at risk for developing it or may not be aware they have the condition.
The fundraise will support its ambition to go to market and the U.S. and be prescribed by doctors there. It follows the decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to provide reimbursement for Diabetes Prevention Program participants. The clinically validated diet and exercise regimen is designed to help participants make lifestyle changes to improve their health.
Its patent-pending app is designed to assess individuals’ diabetes risk with a conversion time horizon, according to its page on the crowdfunding website. Its algorithms use that information to guide users to the key objectives of the Diabetes Prevention Program. Sweetch was to participate in a pilot study at Johns Hopkins Medicine in the first quarter of the year, according to a statement on Our Crowd’s website.
The chief medical officer for Sweetch is Dr. Yossi Bahagon —he is also listed as the business development lead. Prior to Sweetch, Bahagon led Luminox, a digital health hub that was working to establish a digital health accelerator program for Israeli startups with Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures.
Dana Chanan heads up the Jerusalem-based business, which was founded in 2013. Its CTO, Dan Lichtenfeld, presided over the development of mobile health and mobile banking at Maccabi Healthcare Services, one of Israel’s largest HMOs, Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical business Janssen, as well as Bank Hapoalim and Bank Discount.
Photo: Bigstock Photo
