Engagement platform for chronic conditions closes $20m round

Sweetch, a digital therapeutics innovator and creator of an engagement platform for chronic conditions, has completed a $20 million Series A round of funding. 

The funds will be directed toward the company’s continued global expansion and further development of its artificial intelligence (AI) and emotional intelligence (EI) behavioural science technology that engages individuals to achieve their health goals with the right message in the right tone, time and real-world context.

The Series A was led by Entrée Capital. It was joined by Tal Capital, Netherlands-based impact investor Noaber, Brazil-based Kortex Ventures, and Insurtech VC FinTLV Ventures, as well as existing investors Philips, OurCrowd and Qure Ventures.

Dr. Doron Dinstein, venture partner at Entrée Capital, said: “90% of healthcare costs in the US are attributable to chronic diseases, which afflict 50% of the population. We need a scalable solution to provide better care at lower costs. This seemingly contradictory statement can be achieved through technology like Sweetch. Sweetch’s digital therapeutic platform provides sustainable behaviour changes and has been shown to significantly impact people’s lives. We see the company radically improving the economics of healthcare."

The Sweetch mobile intervention program is being used around the world as a method for achieving sustainable engagement and improved clinical outcomes across various dimensions of chronic disease management. In a clinical trial conducted at Johns Hopkins University’s Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Sweetch’s fully automated intervention achieved 86% retention and significantly improved clinical outcomes for patients with early-stage diabetes, including lowering HbA1c levels, a diabetes biomarker for blood sugar.

Sweetch provides a personalised, scalable and cost-effective solution to increase patient adherence across various aspects of disease management and improve clinical outcomes for people with chronic conditions. The company’s JITAI technology converts millions of data points originating from an individual's smartphone and other connected devices into personalised recommendations to catalyse behavioural change as part of their daily routine. JITAI technology can be used across multiple chronic conditions, including cardio-metabolic diseases, autoimmune disorders and oncology.

Yoni Nevo, CEO of Sweetch, said: “We believe that every person with chronic conditions should have a trusted voice empowering them to reach their micro-goals every step of the way throughout their unique health journey. The rapidly evolving remote health era is missing a critical component: effective continuous relationships between pharmaceutical companies, device manufacturers, payers, healthcare providers and each of their individual patients. Sweetch provides this missing critical capability at scale to outsmart chronic conditions, together.”