Diabetes management startup Pops! Diabetes Care has scored $6 million in an oversubscribed Series A round. The round was led by 30Ventures with participation from Rise of the Rest Seed Fund and Flying Point Industries.
As part of the deal, 30Ventures Managing Partner George Arida joined the board.
This isn’t the first infusion of cash for the startup. In 2017 it raised $1.2 million to bring its product to market.
WHAT THEY DO
The company launched its first smartphone-connected glucometer, dubbed Pops! one System, in March a month after the FDA greenlighted the product. The technology employs an algorithm to give users real-time personalized diabetes coaching.
The FDA-cleared system includes a small glucose meter that attaches to the back of a user’s smartphone. Users are able to check their glucose levels on the meter and then those results will automatically transfer to the app. The platform lets users track their blood glucose levels. Users can decide to share that data with family members or a physician.
WHAT IT'S FOR
The company said the new cash will go towards commercializing the Pops! one System.
MARKET SNAPSHOT
The startup is not short on competition in the diabetes management space. DarioHealth, another smartphone-connected glucometer, is a direct competitor. The Israeli company officially launched its technology in the US in 2016.
More broadly, the diabetes and chronic care management space is heating up.
Recently all eyes have been on Livongo, a chronic care management platform, after it announced its plans to file for an IPO on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The company told MobiHealthNews that it is looking at September for their listing.
Chronic care company Omada Health has also been in the news recently after landing $73 million in funding.
ON THE RECORD
“We’re proud to back the POPS! team in their important mission of empowering people to better manage their chronic healthcare needs in a way that combines elegant hardware with intelligent software. Cofounder and CEO Lonny Stormo is an industry veteran who brings world-class expertise and has assembled a fantastic team,” Mary Grove, partner at Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, said in a statement.
