Livongo Health, a consumer digital health company that is empowering people with chronic diseases to live better has raised $52.5 million in growth funding co-led by existing investor General Catalyst and international investment company Kinnevik. Singapore-based EDBI, American Investment Holdings LLC, and Microsoft Ventures also joined the round including participation from previous investors. The company plans to utilize the funding to expand its diabetes management to international markets in 2017 and other chronic disease conditions.
Livongo’s first diabetes management program targeted to people with either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes is completely mobile, digital and personalized to the user. It allows people with diabetes to effectively manage important aspects of their illness on their own. It also allows them to easily keep their family members and care team informed in real-time.
Each Livongo for Diabetes user receives the company’s In Touch® blood glucose smartmeter, a proprietary mobile device that is the first cellular-enabled, two-way interactive blood glucose meter. The device captures a user’s biometric data and uploads it to a cloud-based inference engine where historical data, clinical rules and predictive modeling are used to convert it into useable information and support that is instantly returned back to the person with diabetes.
Livongo’s program is demonstrating significant improvements in health outcomes for its members and cost savings for its clients. Livongo members spend more time-in-range in the first month of use and show a reduction in HbA1c within the first 90 days sustained to at least 180 days. A recent third-party study found that Livongo optimizes utilization and decreases diabetes-related medical costs across the covered population.
“Our team is focused on empowering our members to live healthier lives, not just manage their chronic conditions. That means we have to address all of their health issues in a comprehensive way.” said Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officer of Livongo in a statement. “In addition to diabetes, we’re focused on extending our program to support other chronic conditions like hypertension and to continue to deliver an experience that our members love while improving clinical results and lowering costs. This new funding will accelerate our investments in R&D and expansion of our rules engine from 10,000 to more than 100,000 rules, allowing us to completely personalize the experience our members have.”
To date, Livongo’s growth has been driven by rapid adoption of its diabetes management solution among leading Fortune 500 companies as well as 4 of the 7 largest health plans in the U.S., the most innovative health systems, and 2 of the 3 largest pharmacy benefits managers. Livongo now reaches more than 3 million covered lives and the Company’s U.S. growth is a strong foundation for expansion to international markets.
