Health IT, Startups

Big Health gets $3.3M to bring its digital sleep coach across the pond

Another digital health sleep product will land in the U.S. later this year via a […]

Another digital health sleep product will land in the U.S. later this year via a London-based company that’s just gotten its first venture round to expand.

Big Health delivers personalized cognitive behavioral therapy programs through web and mobile platforms. Its first offering, Sleepio, is a six-week sleep improvement program that teaches people techniques to overcome the mental factors associated with insomnia and develop healthy sleep patterns.

The CDC has called insufficient sleep a public health epidemic affecting 50 million to 70 million Americans. Cognitive behavioral therapy has been recognized as an effective way of dealing with insomnia and sleep troubles, but it can be hard to find.

Oxford University sleep researcher Colin Espie and entrepreneur Peter Hames joined forces to make an easily accessible digital program based on the principles of CBT. They just closed a $3.3 million Series A round led by Index Ventures and Forward Partners.

The company said in a statement that it will open an office in the U.S. later this year.

Big Health’s program includes a sleep improvement course, 10 digital tools, access to a library of related articles and access to a community of other members. Users first fill out a sleep survey to pinpoint their problems and guide their program. Then they log in to Big Health once a week and complete 20-minute sessions led by a virtual sleep expert called The Prof. Those sessions get at four aspects of sleep troubles: thoughts and worries about sleep, sleep schedule, lifestyle and bedroom.

In between sessions, they’re encouraged to use the digital tools like a sleep diary and thought checker to record their progress. Big Health’s platform can also integrate data from sleep tracking tools like Jawbone Up, BodyMedia and Fitbit.

In a placebo-controlled trial of 164 people with persistent insomnia lasting three months or longer, the program helped about three-quarters of those who used it to improve their sleep to healthy levels, Big Health says. It helped them fall asleep 54 percent times faster and reduced night awakenings by 62 percent.

Several fitness device makers like Lark, Withings and Jawbone include sleep tracking capabilities, but at first glance it seems that Big Health’s differentiator is providing a much deeper level of feedback and training.

It’s one of a number of digital health startups that have created apps or programs to make CBT more accessible for addressing eating disorders, stress and anxiety.

A 12-week Sleepio plan costs $149.

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