Sidekick Health has completed a $20 million (£15.3m) oversubscribed Series A financing round led by Wellington Partners and Asabys Partners, through its fund SAHII, with participation by existing investors Novator and Frumtak Ventures.

The Nordic firm’s fundraising efforts were supported by the EIT Digital Accelerator, a European digital innovation initiative which supports startup and scale-up companies.

WHAT IT DOES

Sidekick specialises in the creation of gamified digital therapeutic solutions and programmes for chronic and lifestyle disease management, ranging from diabetes to ulcerative colitis and smoking cessation.

The Sidekick platform is CE-marked as a Class I medical device and is scalable to more than 40 chronic diseases, 13 of which are live in 2020. It has also been adopted to remotely triage and support people in home isolation, diagnosed with COVID-19.

WHAT IT’S FOR

Sidekick will use the proceeds for validation and development into new therapeutic areas, driving product development forward to increase its lead in patient engagement and retention, and to expand its operations in the US.

MARKET SNAPSHOT  

Digital therapeutics have thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic, as patients cut off from in-person care seek remote solutions.

EU-based startup, Raccoon.World, recently raised $1.07 million (€900k) in seed funding, to support its gamified platform for patients recovering from injuries and neurological diseases.

There is also growing opportunity for digital therapeutics firms to partner with big pharma, such as Sidekick’s collaborations with Pfizer and Bayer.

Last month, Swedish pharma company Orexo launched two digital therapeutics solutions for depression and alcohol use disorders.

ON THE RECORD

Sidekick chief executive officer and cofounder, Dr Tryggvi Thorgeirsson, said: “The healthcare landscape has shifted significantly this year as a direct result of COVID-19, accelerating the adoption and demand for digital health solutions. We have grown our customer base sharply in recent months, adding new partnerships with global pharmaceutical firms and leading US-based healthcare organisations.

“These developments have confirmed our vision to bring healthcare into people’s homes, augment traditional medical care outside the bricks-and-mortar clinical setting, and empower patients to take control of their own health.”

Dr Regina Hodits, managing partner at Wellington, said: “Sidekick’s team has done a remarkable job of creating a product platform with the potential to achieve this aim on a global scale. We are very excited to support the company with their plans for significant growth.”

Joseph LI Sanfeliu, managing partner and co-founder of Asabys, said: “We’re impressed by the way this team has been able to put together a technology platform delivering evidence-based therapeutic programs, that are effective, adaptive but also valuable for their commercial partners.”

Andri Sveinsson, managing partner at Novator, said: "We are excited to have two new value-adding investors on board. This confirms our long-held belief that Sidekick has all the necessary ingredients to transform the way people access healthcare and further position itself as a leading player in the digital health sector.”