Levels Raises $12M Seed Round to Bring Biowearables into the Mainstream and Improve Metabolic Health

NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Levels, the first biowearable system to provide real-time feedback on how your diet impacts your health, today announced a $12 million seed round led by a16z, one of Silicon Valley's top venture capital firms whose portfolio includes Airbnb, Facebook, Instagram, Lyft, Pinterest, Slack, Stripe and Waymo. The round also includes participation from angel investors including Marc Randolph (co-founder and first CEO of Netflix), Dick Costolo (former CEO of Twitter), Michael Arrington (Founder of TechCrunch), Matt Dellavedova (NBA, Cleveland Cavaliers) and Laurel Touby (Supernode Ventures).

In the same way fitness trackers are commonly worn to quantify physical activity and exercise, Levels measures the impact of one's diet and lifestyle on metabolic health by pairing continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology with intelligent software.

"You shouldn't need a PhD in nutrition or human physiology to know what to eat for lunch. Levels is the first product that takes the guesswork out of daily lifestyle choices with personalized, objective data," said Josh Clemente, Levels Founder and President. "By leveraging continuous glucose monitoring, Levels helps users close the loop between overall health and daily choices around food, exercise, sleep, and stress management to support long-term metabolic health."

Only 12% of the U.S. population is considered metabolically healthy. Today, over 120 million Americans have prediabetes or diabetes, and 84% of people with prediabetes don't even know they have it. Levels published their Secret Master Plan to explain how they'll reverse this trend by promoting behavior change based on personal data.

"We invested in Levels because metabolic dysfunction is an incredibly important problem, and their rate of execution on solving this problem is on par with the best companies we've seen," said Jeff Jordan, Managing Partner, a16z. "Consumers are increasingly health conscious, and increasingly leverage real tech tools and data to improve their health. Levels provides a veritable 'divining rod' for improved metabolic health."

The month-long Levels program includes two 14-day CGM sensors and access to the Levels app, which provides real-time analysis on how food, exercise, and other lifestyle decisions are impacting your health. Currently in a closed beta, Levels has a 50,000+ person waitlist and will be available for consumer purchase in early 2021.

"Optimizing metabolic function can improve energy, endurance, memory, mood, and cognitive performance. Seven of the 10 leading causes of death in the US are strongly related to metabolic dysfunction," said Dr. Casey Means, Co-founder of Levels. "Levels helps you improve metabolic fitness by alerting you to foods that negatively impact glucose levels. Armed with this information, you can take control of your metabolic health and make healthier lifestyle decisions."

"The two most fundamental levers for our health––diet and exercise––remain shrouded in generalities and unrealistic advice. By harnessing CGMs, wearables, data science, and the latest advances in biology and medicine, Levels provides critical information to help consumers take control of diet and exercise, while making real, fundamental improvements in their health," said Vijay Pande, PhD and General Partner, a16z. "Preventing metabolic dysfunction is one of the 21st century's greatest health challenges, and Levels addresses the epidemic head on."

"Too many smart people focus on small problems. Levels has picked something big and important to solve - and I love it," said Marc Randolph, co-founder and first CEO of Netflix. "They're improving metabolic health and, by extension, the lives of millions of people. It's an ambitious goal, but they're the team to do it. The progress they've made in a short amount of time blows me away. I'm thrilled to join as an investor and mentor."

ABOUT LEVELS HEALTH
Levels makes it easy for people to see how their diet is affecting both their health and their lifestyle in a quantifiable way by measuring biomarkers in real time. We are expanding access to continuous glucose monitoring and making it mainstream, focused on people looking to find their optimal diet and improve their metabolic fitness. Our customers are losing weight, optimizing exercise performance, and developing ideal versions of their dietary philosophy of choice.

Casey Means MD (Stanford), Josh Clemente (SpaceX, Hyperloop), Sam Corcos (CarDash, Y Combinator), David Flinner (Google), and Andrew Conner (Google) founded Levels to reverse the trend of metabolic dysfunction. More than 10% of the United States is diabetic and it's increasing globally at an increasing rate—84 million Americans are prediabetic and 70% will be diabetic within 10 years. We're starting with the performance and athletic market to build brand credibility and thought leadership and moving into mainstream health and wellness in 2021.

MEDIA CONTACT
Ross Fenton
Jack Taylor PR
[email protected]
415-722-3489

SOURCE Levels