Kaia Health’s app offers exercises and educational resources for patients with back pain and COPD. Photo credit: Kaia Health
Kaia Health, a startup providing virtual care for COPD and musculoskeletal conditions, raised a $26 million series B funding round. The company’s app provides personal exercise plans, mindfulness tools and access to health coaches.
The New York-based startup was founded in 2016 with the goal of building accessible treatments for chronic conditions. The company plans to use the additional funding to build out its digital therapy solutions for back pain, and expand into new conditions, including COPD. It has garnered 400,000 users to date.
Kaia’s app uses 2D motion tracking to give users feedback on whether they are doing exercises properly. The company said it would use the funding to invest in its computer vision technology, clinical research, and expand to more health plans.
The company published the results of a randomized, 100-person trial in Nature Digital Medicine last year, comparing the reduction in low back pain for people that used the app for three months compared to those that went to six physical therapy sessions. While at six weeks, there was no significant difference between the two groups, after 12 weeks, patients using the app reported lower pain intensity.
Konstantin Mehl, founder and president of Kaia, said the acceleration of telehealth during the Covid-19 pandemic had also driven interest in its work.
“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,” he said in a news release.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Optum Ventures, Idinvest and capital300 led the funding round. Existing investors also participated in the round, including Balderton Capital, Heartcore Capital and Symphony Ventures, an investment partnership started by golfer Rory McIlroy. To date, the startup has raised $50 million.
“We see tremendous need for digital therapeutic platforms that can treat chronic disease remotely, cost effectively and at scale,” Optum Ventures Partner Heather Roxborough said in a news release. “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.”
Kaia isn’t the only company offering virtual treatment for these conditions. Propeller Health is a well-established digital health tool for the management of asthma and COPD, and was recently named to Express Scripts’ first digital health formulary.
A growing number of companies have also turned to offerings for musculoskeletal care. Hinge Health, a startup that connects users to virtual visits with physical therapists and health coaches, closed a large funding round in February. Omada Health also recently acquired Physera, a startup that connects patients to virtual consultations with physical therapists.
