Digital health company HiDoc Technologies GmbH, dba Cara
Care, today announced that it has raised $7 million in Series A
funding. The round was led by JJDC
and Barcelona-based VC firm Asabys
Partners through its fund Sabadell Asabys Health Innovation
Investments SCR, SA, with participation from existing investor Atlantic
Labs. Proceeds will be used to expand the market launch of the company’s
Cara Care mobile companion app for people suffering from digestive
health issues, with a primary focus on the United States.
Available in German and English, Cara Care offers a unique approach to
gastrointestinal healthcare, filling a gap in the journey of patients
who spend most of their time outside general physician (GP) and
gastroenterologist (GI) offices, especially those who suffer from
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), and
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD). To date, Cara Care has helped
more than 400,000 people in Germany and the U.S. manage the symptoms of
digestive diseases such as IBS, IBD, GERD, food intolerances, Crohn’s
disease or ulcerative colitis, with a 78.8 percent treatment success
rate.
“Abasys Partners’ investment reflects the impact of a technological
convergence in healthcare that is delivering therapies beyond
traditional prescription medications, where smart apps work in concert
with the pharmaceutical industry to provide clinically meaningful
benefit to patients in their everyday lives,” said Josep LI. Sanfeliu,
managing partner and co-founder, Asabys Partners. “Cara Care’s advanced
digital technologies, which include big data, AI, and UX, are all
embedded in the patient-centric Cara Care mobile app, helping patients
improve their lives with more efficient, personalized and clinically
validated treatments.”
A recent report estimates that annual healthcare expenditures for
gastrointestinal disease in the United States total $136 billion, which
is more than that for heart disease ($113 billion), trauma ($103
billion), and mental health ($99 billion)i. Though often
unseen, gastrointestinal diseases can cause a lifetime of physical and
mental suffering for patients, in many cases beginning at a young age.
Even with costly medication under the care of a GI specialist, digestive
diseases can cause mental health challenges, social stigma, and loss of
productivity and wages for sufferers. Cara Care offers a new digital
dimension to therapies that were previously offline, helping to enhance
treatment, generate real-world evidence, and created individual
treatment plans to improve quality of life for digestive disease
patients.
“Digital therapeutics is the next big movement in healthcare, and Cara
Care is one of the most advanced companies in this field. Soon the Cara
Care app will be able to help millions of patients with digestive
diseases in Europe and the U.S.,” added Christophe Maire, founder and
CEO of Atlantic Labs.
Founded in 2016 by André Sommer and Jesaja Brinkmann, Cara Care
developed its digital app to span medication management, dietary and
mental health interventions to improve gastrointestinal health. In 2018,
the company extended its offer in Germany to offer paid remote medical
nutrition therapy, which is already subsidized by 90 percent of German
health insurance companies. In this market, certified nutritionists
advise patients in a series of telemedical sessions, which increases
flexibility and efficiency for both the company and the patient.
“It is clear that digital therapeutics will play a crucial future role
in the treatment of individuals with chronic gastrointestinal disorders
such as IBS. I believe that these digital treatments will help improve
patient compliance to medication and lifestyle changes, delivering
better outcomes across this patient population,” said Anthony J. Lembo,
M.D., professor at Harvard Medical School and director of the GI
Motility Laboratory at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
In addition to the market expansion of the app, Cara Care plans to use
the Series A funding to conduct additional scientific research to better
understand digestive diseases, symptom triggers and flare-up causes.
Concurrently, the company is working to expand existing partnerships and
create new ones with other important players in the patient journey,
including those in the pharmaceutical, diagnostic laboratories, and food
manufacturing industries.
“We believe mobile software can have a significant therapeutic effect on
these patients, as GI diseases are highly influenced by factors such as
diet, stress, mental health and physical activity,” said Cara Care’s
André Sommer, M.D. “By identifying individual triggers for symptoms and
flares, we can tailor interventions to reduce symptoms and improve the
patient’s quality of life. Based on the health and lifestyle data, it is
further possible to optimize medication intake, increase adherence and
match the right therapy with the right patient.”
About Cara Care
Berlin-based digital health company HiDoc Technologies GmbH, dba Cara
Care, offers the Cara Care digital therapeutic app for digestive
diseases, which spans medication management as well as dietary and
mental health interventions to improve gastrointestinal health. The Cara
Care app – available for iOS and Android – helps fill the gaps between
doctor visits for gastrointestinal disease patients. Part of the
Microsoft Accelerator, winner of the GlaxoSmithKline Transforming the
Future of Self-Care Challenge in the category “Digital Health
Technologies,” and featured in Healthline’s Best Gut Health Apps in
2019, Cara Care has raised more than $9 Million in funding to date. For
more information, visit https://cara.care/en.
i “Burden and Costs of Gastrointestinal Disease in the U.S.,” NJEM
Journal Watch, John R. Saltzman, MD reviewing Peery AF et al.
Gastroenterology 2018 Oct 10. https://www.jwatch.org/na47723/2018/10/23/burden-and-costs-gastrointestinal-disease-us
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190618005363/en/