London-based mail order consumer blood testing startup Thriva has raised $1.9 million (1.5 million pounds) in a round of seed funding, the company announced today. Individual investors include Zoopla CEO Alex Chesterman and TransferWise CEO Taavet Hinrikus and funds investing include Seedcamp, 500 Startups and the London Co-Investment Fund (LCIF).
Thriva has been operating in the UK since 2016. Users can sign up for one-off tests that range from 39 pounds to 69 pounds in price or sign up for the Baseline subscription to track risk, wellness, and energy markers over time. After users sign up, they'll receive a testing kit in the mail that contains everything they need to take a blood sample and mail it back to Thriva. Then, within 48 hours, the user gets digital access to a personalized health report, complete with advice from a doctor on how to interpret and act on the results.
“In five years time we’ll look back and think it’s ludicrous how little most people knew about what was really happening inside their bodies," CEO Hamish Grierson said in a statement. "We’re motivated by a simple view: That the world would be a better place if more people felt it was OK to know their bodies. Your blood can tell an amazing story about your health. Our mission is to ensure that understanding and tracking your biochemistry becomes as normal as counting your steps or jumping on the weighing scales.”
One-off tests from Thriva include energy, vitamin B12, basic and advanced thyroid function, testosterone, and lifestyle. The Baseline test, which is re-administered every three months, tracks cholesterol levels, Vitamin-D deficiency, iron deficiency and poor liver function.
Thriva is the latest in a line of companies to experiment in this consumer blood-tracking space over the past decade. Segterra, better known by its brand name InsideTracker, has been in operation since 2009. More recently an Austin, Texas-based company called EverlyWell began offering at-home lab tests, including blood tests. And one of the most closely watched companies in the space is Cor, brainchild of former Apple executive Bob Messerschmidt.
