Srikanth
Digital Therapeutics company Breathe Well-being that helps people prevent, manage and reverse Type 2 Diabetes has raised $5.5 million in Series A led by Accel. The round saw participation from marquee investors like General Catalyst (early investors in Livongo, $20B+ US-based digital therapeutic company, Airbnb & Stripe) and Scott Shleifer, Global MD, Tiger Global. Angels have received a 30X exit and early employees have been rewarded with life changing ESOPs encashment. The Company will invest the current fund raise to scale up the tech platform and team expansion.
Reversing chronic conditions, like diabetes, requires personalized lifestyle changes across diet, fitness, and mental wellness. Such changes are often daunting and patients lose motivation to sustain them. Founders of Breathe Well-being, Rohan Verma (Ex McKinsey) and Aditya Kaicker (ex-Accenture), 2nd-time founders and childhood friends, come with a decade of experience in the healthcare space. Having seen and managed these problems for their parents, the founders understand what it takes to help people build behavioural changes that address these chronic diseases and more importantly, what it takes to help patients sustain their health outcomes. This is how the idea of Breathe Well-being came to life.
Rohan is a certified CrossFit L2 trainer and a mindfulness coach and Aditya is an ACE-certified behavioral health coach; together, with their experience in Healthcare consulting and Life Sciences, they bring in the right expertise to develop life-changing health programs.
With a meager 200,000 specialist doctors base in the country, the need for an efficient tech platform that can help patients manage and treat their conditions with minimal medical intervention could not be more imminent. For chronic care reversal or management, continuous engagement and monitoring is required. However, care delivery for chronic care patients currently is highly episodic. Hence the need for digital solutions that can be delivered at home and at the time of need.
Breathe’s flagship Online Diabetes Reversal Program has garnered tremendous patient love from thousands of patients and boasts of impressive outcomes with 95%+ patients showing HbA1c level reduction of more than 10% and 90%+ patients with completely stopped or reduced medications. Further proving the clinical efficacy of its Digital Therapeutics Program, Breathe has successfully published a clinical study with ADA (American Diabetes Association) on more than 180 patients, one of the largest from India and the first Digital Therapeutics in the world with its unique combination of diet, exercise and meditation. With strong conviction in its program and their medical care team, Breathe is taking its promise of a diabetes-free life a notch higher with their “No Outcome, No Pay” – Diabetic patients end up paying only if they see a significant reduction in the HbA1c levels else the fees is refunded.
Rohan Verma, Co-founder & CEO, Breathe Well-being adds, “Our mission is to help 1 Million Indians reverse Type 2 Diabetes by 2025. We are focusing on enhancing patient experience by scaling our technology platform, strengthening medical & coaching academy, community protocols and game design. This fundraise will also help us ramp up our hiring and marketing efforts. We will be aggressively hiring not only for core operations but across the board. In Accel, we have found the right kind of partnership and synergy to help us achieve our ambition of becoming the largest digital therapeutics company in the world.”
Accel India brings in 15+ years of experience helping entrepreneurs build consumer-tech companies, such as Facebook, Flipkart, BookMyShow, Myntra, Swiggy, Urban Company.
Radhika Ananth, Vice President, Accel, says, “This investment feels as much personal as professional since Rohan’s pitch struck an immediate chord as diabetes reversal is a topic close to my heart. My mom suffers from type 2 diabetes for several years and although she has been managing her condition in a disciplined way, we were unable to find a sustainable and a holistic solution to reverse it. When we met the Breathe team, it instantly dawned upon us that this was a unique opportunity, built on the premise of high efficacy, patient love and deeply engaged community. My mom is now one of their many enthusiastic customers in her journey to bring down the A1c levels to 5.6. Their execution demonstrated the best in class customer engagement and retention, something that we have never seen before in the chronic care category in India. We were able to quickly build conviction on Rohan and Aditya’s vision on creating the best product and customer experience in chronic care reversal for India and global markets.”
Aditya Kaicker, Co-founder & Chief Program Officer, Breathe Well-being, says, “We want to become the most trustworthy healthcare company in the world. The “No Outcome, No Pay” policy is a testimony to our commitment of delivering health outcomes and improving our patient’s lives. Patients are becoming more aware and excited by the possibility of Reversal through a natural lifestyle modification rather than being stuck on medications for life. Additionally, achieving full Diabetes Remission gives them more freedom in their diet and lifestyle without Diabetes-related worries.”
In the long-term, Breathe wants to extend its digital therapeutic offerings to other chronic conditions, such as hypertension, PCOS, gut disorders, etc., and establish itself as a leading global player in the market. While carrying forward its patient-first approach and continuing building the business with focus on consumer experience, trust, and clinically-proven results. Breathe Well-being raised funding from 3one4 Capital, six months back, who have also participated in this round.
