Withings Secures $60 Million to Bridge the Gap Between Consumers and Physicians
Withings Secures $60 Million to Bridge the Gap Between Consumers and Physicians
The coronavirus pandemic has changed how many industries operate and conduct business. The industry change can readily be seen in the health and medical sectors. Before COVID-19, telemedicine and remote patient monitoring were a rarity, but overnight digital monitoring has become the norm as physicians embrace telehealth to treat and track their patients safely from home.
Making a Dramatic Impact on Medical and Health Services
One company making an impact in the medical and health services is Withings, a Paris-based company that has led the way in creating at-home devices that can take medical-grade measurements. Previously, patients could only receive these professional and accurate readings during their private doctor visits.
Withing’s medical devices include a range of activity trackers, connected scales, blood pressure monitors, and sleep trackers that capture data from 20 different vital health parameters.
The health parameter devices at Withings’s, gauge blood pressure levels, temperature, weight, ECG, sleep patterns, activity levels, and heart rates. Being able to obtain this type of health information on a daily basis allows both user and their doctors to gain insights that can help identify medical conditions early — with the added benefit of improving personal health promptly.
As in-person doctor’s visits are challenging at this time, interest in companies like Withings has dramatically increased. In fact, to fuel this growth, Withings just announced a $ 60 million Series B funding round that was co-led by healthcare investment specialists Gilde Healthcare, Idinvest Partners and Bpifrance.
Withings plans to use these funds to develop the next generation of consumer health devices and to expand its business-to-business division, Withings MED PRO, that powers telehealth services for medical professionals.
Eric Carreel, President and co-founder of Withings, on the funding news said,
“I strongly believe in technology’s ability to transform society’s health by allowing anyone to regularly monitor their vitals from home and involve health professionals in this process.
Today, we are in an exciting time where medicine is becoming personalized, continuous, and based on data analysis, and I am proud Withings is at the heart of this revolution.
With funding from like-minded partners, we can scale our efforts globally and continue to invest in new technologies and AI tools that can detect and predict medical conditions.”
Data Driving Patient Outcomes
Last year, Withings launched MED PRO that allows medical professionals, institutions, researchers, and health management programs to use Withings devices and data under their own brand and within their own programs.
Since its inception, MED PRO has been involved in over 100 clinical and academic studies by leading organizations such as Harvard University, the American Medical Group Association, and Scripps Health. In addition, it is currently involved in a research initiative with the Department of Cardiology at the University Hospital of the Ludwig Maximillian University of Munich.
Soon to be launched is its ScanWatch that has been integrated into a COVID-19 patient monitoring project. ScanWatch is capable of tracking the blood oxygen saturation and heart rhythm of patients from the wrist — both of which are essential vitals to monitor for those suffering from complications associated with coronavirus.
Building a Team to Create the Next Generation of Predictive Devices
In addition to expanding MED PRO, Withings also announced it is set to hire 100 new people in the USA and France over the coming year. Withings has also appointed a new Medical Advisory Board to help the company create the next generation of connected health products that can predict as well as monitor health conditions.
The board is comprised of respected medical, research, and scientific leaders, including Dr. Joh Halamka, President of the Mayo Clinic Platform, Dr. Stéphane Laurent, former Head of Clinical Pharmacology in Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou in Paris, and Craig Lipset, former head of Clinical Innovation at Pfizer.
Over the coming year, Withings says it is looking at what new biomarkers and health vitals can be measured using at-home devices. With the grateful investment from healthcare specialists, Withings plans to make further announcements in the coming months.
Image Credit: karolina grabowski; pexels
The post Withings Secures $ 60 Million to Bridge the Gap Between Consumers and Physicians appeared first on ReadWrite.
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