Home Health Care Diabetes startup Virta Health raises $93M

Diabetes startup Virta Health raises $93M

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Virta Health’s app lets patients with type 2 diabetes track weight, blood sugar and ketones. The digital health company raised $93 million in January.

In the crowded field of diabetes startups, a new entrant, Virta Health, claims it can reverse type 2 diabetes. But can it live up to its ambitions?

The company closed a $93 million series C funding round on Friday, led by San Francisco-based VC Caffeinated Capital. Early investor Venrock also participated in the round, along with Obvious Ventures, Creandum, Playground Global and SciFi VC.

“This latest funding is validation for the consistency and durability of our health and economic outcomes in both clinical trial and commercial patients,” Virta Health CEO and Co-Founder Sami Inkinen said in a news release. “We can now invest more into growth to help millions of people living with type 2 diabetes, while also investing in product and research to address other diseases.”

Like its peers, Virta gives patients tools and an app that can track key metrics like blood glucose levels and blood pressure. It also gives them nutrition plans and pairs them with health coaches. But unlike the rest, Virta’s nutrition plans are focused on a ketogenic diet, which severely restricts carbohydrate consumption.

The company points to a peer-reviewed study showing a little over half of patients that used its solution for two years saw hemoglobin A1c levels fall below the diagnostic threshold for type 2 diabetes. Virta sponsored the open-label study, which was published in Frontiers in Endocrinology in June. The study, which compared more than 260 patients using Virta’s platform to an 87-person control group, was not randomized.

Virta reported a 200% increase in its customer base, attributed to Blue Shield of California, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Fortune 100 companies. The company’s solution costs roughly $250 per month.

In the long run, the company will still have to contend with well-funded competitors Livongo, Omada Health, and a slew of other digital tools for treating diabetes. The company was founded in 2014 and has raised a total of $166 million to date.

Photo credit: Virta Health

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