Vively.nla metabolic wellness platform, has raised $1.5 million in an oversubscribed pre-Seed round led by Archangel Ventures.
Vively uses constant glucose monitoring via an arm patch to help people understand how their diet and lifestyle affect their metabolic health in real time.
The funding will be used for product development and growth to capture the Asia-Pacific market, estimated at $9 billion per year.
Co-founder and CEO Tim Veron launched the platform with Michael Pang three months ago and the company is already generating $1 million in annualized revenue with nearly 100% month-over-month growth.
Australia is in the throes of a chronic disease crisis, largely caused by unhealthy diets, sedentary lifestyles, poor sleep and chronic stress leading to sub-optimal metabolic health.
“Vively has developed software that makes it easy to understand and act on your glucose data with medical-grade insights that are holistic and personalized to you,” he said.
Tracking glucose levels allows the user to see the effects food, exercise, stress and sleep have on their blood sugar levels, and make adjustments to improve your health in real time.
Vively co-founders Tim Veron and Michael Pang
“Usually in Australia you need an expert to assess your metabolic health, which is expensive and time-consuming for most people,” Veron said.
“In addition, lab tests are point-in-time and unadjusted to the nuance of several common life events such as exercise, mental stress loads, carbohydrate loads, and sleep quality and quantity.”
Dr. Michelle Woolhouse, Vively’s medical director, said metabolic syndrome – a cluster of conditions that co-occur and increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes – affects about 35% of Australians, including many who suffer from sleep apnea and polycystic ovary syndrome .
“These numbers are not good, but the story could be much worse,” she said.
“The good news is that we are 100% in control of our metabolic health and simply changing your lifestyle is the best medicine we know of. Everyone has a different ‘metabolic fingerprint’, so by tracking your glucose and your lifestyle, this program will help you understand what works and what doesn’t work for you.”
Vively has collected more than 500,000 glucose readings in the past three months and sees a higher-than-expected number of potential metabolic dysfunction. More than 66% of users have an estimated Hba1c – a simple blood test that measures your average blood sugar – of 5.7% or higher, which would indicate they have pre-diabetes or metabolic dysfunction.
Veron said Vively’s evidence-based, personalized and targeted diet and lifestyle-based interventions help users manage their sugar levels in real time.
“As the holiday season approaches, understanding how your Christmas pudding or glass of champagne impacts your metabolism can help you manage your overall health and lead to better prevention of a range of common chronic illnesses related to the lifestyle,” he said.