According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 29 million people or 9.3% of the U.S. population have diabetes. The picture is even more bleak with 117 million or over 30 percent of Americans suffering from chronic conditions (like heart disease, stroke, cancer and arthritis).
Unfortunately, the paradigm for monitoring diabetes has not changed in the last 35 years with the introduction of the glucose monitor. With this technology, the person pricks their finger multiple times per day, inserts it into the machine and a number displays the results. While this is much better than the previous monitoring method of urinating on a chemical strip, it still left people to deal with their diabetes alone. In addition, they had a difficult time analyzing with their doctor what results were over a long period of time.
Now, Livongo Health is gaining critical momentum to reinvent chronic care management and empower patients living with diabetes by combining portable technology and on the phone coaching. Their two-way interactive glucose meter sends data to the cloud that provides personalized insights that can be shared with the patient’s doctor or other support people. It also includes an instant human touch from certified diabetes educators if help is needed with a low or high result on the meter.
Livongo Health announced this week the completion of a $44.5 million Series C financing round. The critical component is that the funding comes from strategic partners in the fight to manage chronic diseases. They include pharmaceutical giant, Merck’s Global Health Innovation Fund and Zaffre Investments, the investment arm of health insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.
Tuoyo Louis, the Managing Director of Zaffre Investments says its goal is to invest in solutions that have a positive impact on their members. Zaffre committed to investing in Livongo because they have “demonstrated measurable results in member satisfaction, clinical improvement, and cost savings based on client reported results.”
This is significant because as Livongo increases its adoption of their diabetes management solution to the country’s largest self-insured employers (like Lowe’s), payers, and healthcare providers, some of these companies’ investments funds are now putting their money in this technology.
According to Louis, to get their own strategic investors like Zaffre, health care start-ups (or innovators, or companies ) need to focus on exactly what makes them successful in the market place: identify and address a key pain-point for customers, show value, and build an outstanding team.
