Accel backs diabetes management platform Breathe Well-being

Gurugram headquartered health-tech startup for diabetes management, Breathe Well-being has raised $5.5 million (Rs 40.80 crore according to current exchange rates) in a Series A round led by Accel.

The round saw participation from marquee investors including General Catalyst and global managing director at Tiger Global, Scott Shleifer.

As part of the round, angel investors in the company received a 30X return on exit, said the company in a statement, apart from ESOP buyback for a few early employees.

The company will utilise the capital to scale up its technology platform and expand the team, the statement added.

Prior to this round, Breathe Well-being had raised equity capital from 3One4 Capital, apart from angel investors former MD of Helion Ashish Gupta, CEO of BharatPe Suhail Sameer, Rajesh Sawhney of GSF Ventures and Stanford Angels.

The company was also a part of the winter 2020 batch of YCombinator. 

Incorporated in 2020 by former McKinsey executive Rohan Verma and former Accenture executive Aditya Kaicker, Breathe Well-being uses its gamified digital programme to manage and reverse Type-2 diabetes.

The company claims to reduce markers such as HbA1c apart from weight loss and dependency on medication.

 “We are focusing on enhancing patient experience by scaling our technology platform, strengthening medical and coaching academy, community protocols and game design. This fundraise will also help us ramp up our hiring and marketing efforts,” Rohan Verma, CEO of Breathe Well-being, said in the statement.

He added, “We will be aggressively hiring not only for core operations but across the board.”

The company also plans on expanding its digital therapeutic offering to cover other chronic conditions including hypertension, PCOS, gut disorders and others.

Of late, focused well-being and therapeutic digital platforms has garnered renewed investor interest.

Recently metabolic fitness company Ultrahuman Healthcare which uses a wearable patch to track users’ metabolic markers, raised $17.5 million in a Series B round. 

Sequoia’s accelerator programme Surge has also backed Mumbai headquartered Veera Health which operates a digital therapeutic platform for women’s health.