Kaia Health, the company behind a leading back pain app, has raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Balderton Capital. With this funding round, Kaia Health is working on tackling some of the world’s most urgent health challenges including a range of chronic conditions. And Kaia Health will be using the funding to support its U.S. rollout including an office in New York City and for further funding clinical studies.
And Kaia Health has created scientifically-validated for a number of disorders including back pain and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). And the Kaia back pain app has been adopted by more than 250,000 individuals and organizations across Europe and the U.S.
Some of the organizations that have adopted the Kaia back pain app includes the biggest health insurance companies in Europe including BARMER. BARMER is offering the Kaia app free for members. BARMER board member Dr. Mani Rafii said that “the bespoke training with Kaia is straightforward and applicable. Relaxation units and information modules can be used at home or on the go, making the holistic therapy ideal for everyday use.”
Kaia Health utilizes innovative machine learning and computer vision technology along with medical expert partners to develop its home-based and affordable alternative to painkillers — which are delivered through a smartphone.
For example, the Kaia app offers users with a daily plan including physical exercises, relaxation techniques, and medical education. And therapy can be tailored for each user through a proprietary algorithm, which sets up exercise programs to that individual’s input.
Kaia’s patent-pending motion tracking technology is able to monitor and provide real-time audio feedback on patients’ exercise performance. And the Kaia app informs users in natural language if they are performing exercises correctly and how to improve.
Back pain is one of the biggest self-reported medical issues in the world. And in America alone, there are an estimated 100 million people affected per year. Plus back pain is the number one reason why people are prescribed painkillers. For this reason, the use of opioid-based painkillers in the U.S. has been growing at alarming levels. And 30% of all general practitioner in the U.K. are musculoskeletal-related, which costs the NHS at least £5 billion a year.
“Over the last twelve months, we’ve demonstrated a universal, unmet need for affordable and accessible digital therapy products, such as our world’s first computer vision-powered back pain app,” said Kaia Health CEO and co-founder Konstantin Mehl in a statement. “These improve treatment paths for patients and reduce costs for payers in healthcare around the globe. Balderton’s investment will support the next stage of our journey, as we expand across the US, undertake further clinical studies and cement our position as a global leader in the digital healthcare market.”
“Providing high-quality and affordable health care for everyone is an urgent issue. Kaia Health is helping to tackle this through its revolutionary technology, which we believe could offer millions of chronic-pain sufferers best-in-class clinical solutions from the comfort of their own homes,” added Balderton Capital partner James Wise. “We look forward to being able to support Kaia on their mission to put treatment and pain management into the hands of patients and improve lives.”
