Lumen wins $62 million for wearable metabolism meter

Lumen, maker of a wearable metabolism measuring device, announced Thursday that it has secured $62 million in Series B funding.

The round was led by Pitango Venture Capital with participation from Hanwha Group, Resolute Ventures, RiverPark Ventures, Unorthodox Ventures, Almeda Capital and Disruptive VC.

The company previously raised $8.5 million in 2019 as well as a crowdfunding in 2018.

WHAT THEYRE DOING

The startup offers a portable breathalyzer type device equipped with a CO2 sensor. Users breathe into the device and it analyzes whether the body is burning fat or carbohydrates for fuel.

Lumen also provides an app that collects this data and provides nutritional recommendations based on the results. It also integrates with Apple HealthKit, Google Fit and Garmin.

The company said it has partnered with research institutes such as Purdue University’s Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research, University of Toronto’s Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, and ARU Cambridge. over the past year.

“Until now, studying metabolism with standard equipment has been a challenge for researchers and participants. Data collection was minimal and required participants to travel to a clinic for each measurement and a practitioner to analyze results,” Merav Mor, chief scientist and co-founder of Lumen, said in a statement. “Now researchers can easily collect multiple data points from participants and create more complex research protocols that uncover new physiological findings.”

Lumen said it plans to use the capital to expand its reach in the United States and globally, add new personalized nutrition and lifestyle recommendations, and support its research partnerships.

MARKET OVERVIEW

There are a number of other digital health companies focused on nutritional advice, weight loss, or metabolic care.

Twin Health offers an AI-backed model that aims to provide individualized nutrition, sleep, and activity guidelines to help people prevent and reverse metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes. It announced a $140 million Series C fundraising in October last year.

Another company focused on metabolic health and weight loss, Calibrate, announced $100 million Series B Last year.

Connected health technology company Withings has also expanded into nutritional recommendations with the purchase of the personalized fitness and meal planner app 8fit.