Sweetch, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to help patients manage chronic conditions, today landed $20 million in Series A funding. Entrée Capital led the funding, with participation from Tal Capital, Noaber, Kortex Ventures, Insurtech VC FinTLV Ventures, Philips, OurCrowd and Qure Ventures.

The Israeli company now has around $27.5 million in venture dollars, according to Crunchbase.

WHAT THEY DO 

The startup designed a patient engagement tool that is personalized to the patient's needs. It uses AI and what it calls “emotional intelligence (EI) behavioral science technology” to help patients manage their condition. 

Patients are able to track activity, weight, meals and habits through an app – and see their progress over time. According to Sweetch, the tool can gather various data points and then convert that into specific personalized action steps that users can take toward their goals, such as when they may have time to take a walk. The platform also gives users coaching interventions to help them keep on track. 

Sweetch offers its own app, as well as a white label app for specific organizations and a Sweetch SDK in an existing app. 

WHAT IT’S FOR 

The company said the new funds will be used for global expansion. Developing more AI and "EI" tools is also on the docket, according to a release. 

“90 percent of healthcare costs in the US are attributable to chronic diseases, which afflict 50 percent of the population. We need a scalable solution to provide better care at lower costs. This seemingly contradictory statement can be achieved through technology like Sweetch,"  Dr. Doron Dinstein, Venture Partner at Entrée Capital, said in a statement. "Sweetch’s digital therapeutic platform provides sustainable behavior changes and has been shown to significantly impact people’s lives. We see the company radically improving the economics of healthcare."

MARKET SNAPSHOT

Sweetch has previously teamed up with Johns Hopkins on a study, which found that prediabetic patients who used the Sweetch coaching program lost weight and increased physical activity. 

In 2020, the company was selected to be part of a new Bayer Digital Health Partnership Program, which is centered around helping companies find big commercial deals. 

Chronic disease management is a hot topic in digital health. One of the biggest names in the space is Livongo, which got its start in diabetes care. After going public in 2019, the company was purchased by virtual care giant Teladoc for a whopping $18.5 billion. 

Another major name in the personalized chronic care space is Omada. While Omada also started out focused on diabetes, it recently began to move into physical therapy after the acquisition of Physera in 2020.