Withings Raises $60 Million to Become the Data-Enabled Bridge Between Patients and Healthcare Professionals

Withings, early pioneers of the connected health revolution, has announced a $60 million Series B funding round co-led by healthcare investment specialists Gilde Healthcare, and long-term Withings partners and investors, Idinvest Partners and Bpifrance, through their Large Venture funds, as well as BNP Paribas Développement, ODDO BHF Private Equity, and Adelie Capital. Having led a paradigm shift in the way consumers and physicians interact by enabling accurate and regular patient-generated data collection, Withings will capitalize on this investment to solidify its position as a trusted intermediary between patients and healthcare professionals. It will continue to invest in products and data services that help deliver more personalized, continuous and preventive medicine.

The company will invest funds to globally scale its dedicated business-to-business division Withings MED PRO and accelerate the development of the next generation of consumer health devices that bring medical grade and predictive capabilities into the home. It also plans to add 100 new positions in the United States and France by the end of the year to strengthen its teams working on research and development, sales, and marketing.

A DECADE OF DATA COLLECTION

In 2008, a small group of engineers created Withings, launching the world’s first connected scale in 2009. The team quickly discovered that being able to regularly access information gave users a new power: to manage their weight and take control of their health daily.

Today, Withings has built the largest ecosystem of connected, non-invasive health devices by reinventing everyday objects and endowing them with new medical powers: a scale that measures arterial stiffness, an analog watch that detects cardiac arrhythmias, a blood pressure monitor that detects valvular heart diseases, and an under-mattress sleep tracker that detects sleep apnea. With over 45 technical patents, the Withings portfolio captures more than 20 vital health parameters including blood pressure, ECG, weight, pulse wave velocity, heart rate, activity levels, sleep apnea, and sleep patterns.

TRANSFORMING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PATIENTS AND HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

With people spending most of their time outside of the doctor’s office, at-home health monitors not only give consumers more control over their health, but also have extraordinary potential for doctors, hospitals, and researchers. Having remote and regular access to precise medical-grade data allows professionals to offer more personalized, intelligent, and responsive care.

In 2019, Withings launched MED PRO, a dedicated business-to-business division that allows medical professionals, institutions, payers, disease management programs, coaching platforms, and researchers to leverage Withings devices and data analytics within their own ecosystems. With today’s funding and against the current health emergency backdrop, Withings is actively growing this division. It offers remote patient and telemedicine services and solutions for dedicated health programs that manage chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart health, sleep, and weight management.

MED PRO also aids academic and pharma research, having been involved in over 100 clinical and academic studies by leading organizations such as Harvard University, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, 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-Maximilians University of Munich, which is integrating the soon to be launched Withings ScanWatch into a COVID-19 patient monitoring project. ScanWatch is capable of tracking the blood oxygen saturation and the heart rhythm by wrist measurements.

A MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM WITH A REINFORCED MEDICAL EXPERTISE

From a small group of engineers, the Withings team has grown in size and scope to include people with diverse and non-conventional electronics backgrounds such as cardiologists, psychologists, a sleep doctor, and even a philosopher.

As Withings deepens its ongoing healthcare strategy, it will be guided by its newly appointed global Medical Advisory Board, comprised of eminent medical, research, and scientific leaders: Dr. John 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.

With this new investment and the medical support of the new advisory board, Withings aims to invent a new generation of consumer health devices that will track new biomarkers and bring medical grade, predictive capabilities into the home.

Eric Carreel, President and co-founder of Withings: “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.” 

Mathieu Letombe, CEO of Withings: “This is an important milestone for Withings. We have combined technology and medical science during the past ten years to create an unrivaled portfolio of devices that continually and accurately measure a vast array of health parameters. With the healthcare industry increasingly embracing this technology and data, it has enthusiastically turned to Withings as a natural partner. Our devices enjoy some of the highest retention levels, cover more health vitals and work with more operating platforms than any other player in the business. The new influx of funding and medical expertise will help us bring even more exciting solutions to the market, making the possibilities for the next ten years boundless.”

Edwin de Graaf, Managing Partner at Gilde Healthcare: “With telemedicine on the rise, and the wider health industry’s growing need to collect and analyze accurate, reliable patient data, Withings is in a unique position to thrive and is an attractive investment for us. We look forward to working with the Withings team as they continue to redefine how patients and physicians interact.”

Benoist Grossmann, Managing Partner at Idinvest Partners: “Withings has demonstrated its leadership in creating elegantly designed connected health devices that millions of consumers want and continue to use. We’ve worked with the company since its infancy and are excited to be part of it as it enters this new era of opportunity.”

Withings was advised by tech-focused investment bank Clipperton in the structuration of the transaction. For more information on Withings visit: www.withings.com

THE WITHINGS JOURNEY

ABOUT WITHINGS

Withings creates devices embedded in easy-to-use everyday objects that connect to apps and act as powerful daily health check-ups, as well as tools to help master long-term health goals.

Founded by visionary innovators Eric Carreel and Cédric Hutchings in 2008, the Withings team of engineers, doctors, and health professionals invent the world’s most efficient devices to help track and analyze anyone’s vitals. The ecosystem range includes award-winning products across the health spectrum, including hybrid smartwatches and health trackers (Move, Move ECG, Steel, Steel HR, Steel HR Sport, Pulse HR), connected scales (Body Cardio, Body+, Body), blood pressure monitors (BPM Core and BPM Connect), and an advanced sleep system (Sleep Analyzer). Every piece of collected data comes to life in the free Health Mate app, where users can find coaching, motivation, and valuable insights to share with their doctors and shape key aspects of their health.  Read more about Withings on withings.com.

ABOUT GILDE HEALTHCARE

Gilde Healthcare is a specialized healthcare investor managing over €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) across two fund strategies: venture & growth capital and private equity. Gilde Healthcare’s venture & growth capital fund invests in fast growing companies active in digital health, medtech and therapeutics. The venture & growth companies are based in Europe and North America. Gilde Healthcare’s private equity fund invests in profitable European lower mid-market healthcare companies with a focus on the Benelux and DACH region. The private equity fund targets healthcare providers, suppliers of medical products and service providers in the healthcare market. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.gildehealthcare.com.

ABOUT IDINVEST PARTNERS

Idinvest Partners is a leading European mid-market private equity firm. With €9bn under management, the firm has developed several areas of expertise including innovative startup venture capital transactions; mid-market private debt, i.e. senior and subordinated debt; primary and secondary investment and private equity advisory services. Founded in 1997, Idinvest Partners used to belong to the Allianz Group until 2010, when it branched out as an independent firm. In January 2018, Idinvest Partners became a subsidiary of Eurazeo, a leading global investment company, with a diversified portfolio of €18.8bn in assets under management, including nearly €12.5bn from investment partners, invested in nearly 430 companies.

ABOUT BPIFRANCE

Bpifrance is the French national investment bank: it finances businesses – at every stage of their development – through loans, guarantees, equity investments and export insurances. Bpifrance also provides extra financial services (training, consultancy.) to help entrepreneurs meet their challenges (innovation, export…).

For more information, please visit: www.bpifrance.fr and presse.bpifrance.fr – Follow us on Twitter: @Bpifrance – @BpifrancePresse

   

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