Beyondbmi, a developer of new drug treatment programs incorporating doctor-prescribed obesity medication, nutritional therapy, one-to-one coaching, and virtual support to help patients hit their weight-loss targets, raised €525,000 in a funding round from investors, including Ergo chairman John Purdy.
The company plans to use the new funding to develop its new drug treatments that help patients with obesity in losing weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle – by changing food habits.
Commenting on the funding news announcement, Beyondbmi co-founder Harriet Treacy said: “Our mission at Beyondbmi is to provide a scientifically-based alternative to the outdated approach of ‘eat less, move more,’ which, research has shown, is an ineffective long-term approach to weight management.”
“For too long, the symptom of hunger associated with excess fat accumulation has been treated as an issue of willpower which causes untold harm to people who often internalize the failure of the treatment as a personal or moral failure. Thankfully, we now have more effective solutions,” added Harriet Treacy.
Ms. Treacy said that new drug treatments could combat the biological and hormonal causes of feeling hungry. Combined with behavioral treatments and nutritional therapy targeting the biology underlying the condition, she said clinical trials conducted in the United States in 2021 indicated that this integrated approach could lead to 15 percent weight loss over a little more than a year on average.
Digital weight loss startups
Digital health startups providing weight loss programs have secured $6 billion in funding to date, according to our database. More recently, Form Health, a telemedicine startup providing obesity and weight loss programs, raised $12 million in Series A funding led by M13 with participation from SignalFire and NextView Ventures. In another deal, Calibrate Health, a telehealth startup providing virtual weight loss programs,raised $22.5 million in Series A funding led by Threshold Ventures’ co-founder and Managing Partner Emily Melton, with participation from existing investors including Forerunner Ventures and Redesign Health. Including the Series A round, Calibrate has raised $27.6 million in funding to date.
Market
JP Morgan recently forecasted that the global obesity drug market would be worth more than $54 billion (€46 billion) in annual revenues by 2030.
