Fruit Street Health Secures First Round Of Seed Funding Led By Group Of Medical Industry And Technology Leaders

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Fruit Street Health (Fruit Street), today announced that it has secured an initial seed round of funding.

The round, which includes $500,000 in initial investments, was led by a series of individual investors, the majority of whom are prominent physicians. Among the investors who participated in the initial round are; Houston Cardiology Consultants Partner Asif Ali, MD MPH, Yampa Valley Medical Center Urologist Stacy Childs, Rapha Family Medicine Practice Owner Frances Ilozue, MD, Orthopedic Surgeon and Tyrance Group President Patrick Tyrance, Jr.,  and 15 other physicians and healthcare executives.

In addition operations and marketing functions, the investment will be used to fuel the development of Fruit Street's upcoming technology platform launch, which is anticipated to go live in late 2014. The Fruit Street platform is designed to help patients live a healthier lifestyle while enabling healthcare providers to connect with patients using video, wearable mobile technologies and other telemedicine components.

"We are excited to have secured our first round of seed funding exclusively from a group of such prominent and well-respected physicians and healthcare executives whom will be able to leverage the Fruit Street technology for their patients," said Laurence Girard, Founder and CEO of Fruit Street Health. "Beyond the capital infusion which will be used to drive our upcoming platform launch, the knowledge, insights, and experience that our investors bring to the table will be invaluable as we develop a technology that is unique and innovative for both patients and healthcare providers."

The telemedicine industry has evolved rapidly over the past few years, and according to analyst reports, is expected to grow at never before seen rates in the coming years. According to Healthcare IT News, the telemedicine industry grew from $4.7 billion in 2007 to $10 billion in 2012, and is projected to grow at a rate of 237 percent by 2017. Meanwhile, obesity and chronic lifestyle-related diseases in the United States continue to run at alarming levels, with more than one-third of Americans being considered obese and another third being considered overweight.

"With one out of two diseases being caused by poor health and lifestyle choices, there is a significant void in the telemedicine space today to solve this problem in a scalable way," said Patrick Tyrance, Jr., an investor in Fruit Street Health, as well as Harvard-trained orthopedic surgeon. "The demand for a technology platform that addresses the evolving needs of both the patient and the healthcare provider has never been greater, and we have been extremely impressed with Fruit Street's vision, commitment and resources to drive this change as it addresses the growing epidemic of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, poor exercise, dietary choices, and mental health."

For more information on Fruit Street Health, and to sign-up for updates in advance of the company's launch, please visit www.fruitstreet.com.   

ABOUT FRUIT STREET HEALTH:

Fruit Street Health is a new digital wellness and telemedicine platform which helps patients live a healthier lifestyle while enabling healthcare providers to connect with patients using telemedicine and wearable mobile technologies. Fruit Street Health's platform is expected to launch in late 2014. For more details, please visit www.fruitstreet.com.

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SOURCE Fruit Street Health