Metabolic fitness startup Ultrahuman nets $17.5 mn Series B

Bengaluru and Los Angeles based Ultrahuman Healthcare, a startup focusing on metabolic markers, is on a quest to use technology to help customers understand their bodies and reach fitness goals. 

On Tuesday, the company announced raising $17.5 million (close to Rs 130 crore) in a Series B round of funding. 

The investment was led by Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI), Steadview Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Blume Ventures, and Utsav Somani’s iSeed fund. Marquee founders and angels also participated in the round, including Tiger Global’s Scott Schleifer, Sandeep Singhal, Kunal Shah, Sujeet Kumar, Deepinder Goyal, Gunjan Patidar, Gaurav Munjal, Revant Bhate, Mohit Gupta, Vikram Dhingra, and Roman Saini. 

Ultrahuman, in a statement, said it will use the funding to accelerate its geographical expansion and improve its tech stack. With this round, the company’s total fundraise has reached $25 million (Rs 185 crore). 

Founded in 2019 by Mohit Kumar and Vatsal Singhal, the startup aims to drive metabolic fitness for the masses with a wearable, a patch of sorts, that enables real-time glucose tracking. 

Read: How AI/ML and IoT can be leveraged to aid chronic disease management 

The glucose biomarkers captured by this wearable are synced with the Ultrahuman app, which then uses the information to provide activity nudges and help people optimize their lifestyle, including exercise and nutrition routine. 

Glucose response is unique to every individual and depends on factors like microbiome diversity, stress levels, time of the day, food ingredient quality, and others. By measuring it in real-time, a person can better understand how their diet, daily activity affects their metabolic health and make necessary changes. 

“Biomarkers will change how the fitness and the healthcare industry works. By being able to continuously monitor their biomarkers like glucose, users can not only avoid chronic diseases but make lifestyle changes that help them improve their fitness levels for longevity and performance,” Kumar said in a statement. 

Read: Where India stands as a wearables market 

The Ultrahuman wearable is currently being tested in private beta with a select set of users. It will become broadly available following the official launch. The company claims thousands of users have already joined the waitlist to use its device. 

Currently, over a billion people around the world suffer from metabolic health disorders, which can lead to almost 85% of all chronic diseases. Diabetes mellitus, a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar either due to inadequate insulin production or because the body's cells do not respond properly, is growing at a rapid pace. According to International Diabetes Federation, a staggering 463 million people are living with diabetes. With 77 million diabetics, India ranks second in IDF’s Diabetes Atlas.