Precision medicine startup DayTwo announced over the weekend a $37 million fundraise for its app that provides users customized diet recommendations based on their gut bacteria. New investors participating include Poalim Capital Markets, La’maison Fund and Micron Ventures. They were joined by existing investors including the aMoon VC fund, 10D, and Cathay Innovation Ventures. To date, DayTwo has raised $85 million including this round.
The new funds will go towards Israel-based DayTwo’s technologies that help those with diabetic and metabolic diseases. In particular, the funds will go towards further enhancing the company’s first product, a platform that uses artificial intelligence, microbiome sequencing, and other clinical measures such as surveys to provide customized food prescriptions for users with these diseases. Doing so will help users manage their blood sugar levels, which is critical for those with diabetes.
Speaking to the Times of Israel, Adi Lev, DayTwo’s deputy CEO for Research & Development, said that the new funds will allow the company to continue its research on the links between bacteria in our bodies and diseases. DayTwo will also continue to develop the algorithms that are an essential part of the company’s platform.
Users access food recommendations and meal plans via the DayTwo app. In the U.S., they can also scan the barcodes on food to find out more about the item in question.
This kind of precision nutrition, as the name suggests, offers consumers more granular food recommendations and diet plans that are based on factors unique to each individual’s body. Instead of drawing on data from outside sources (e.g., a wearable fitness device), these programs and solutions gather data from inside the human body. Genopalate does this through DNA analysis, while Sun Genomics and Viome are a little more like DayTwo in that they focus on users’ microbiome.
DayTwo, however, is currently the only company of this pack with a specific emphasis on those with diabetes and metabolic diseases. Currently, the company’s platform has about 70,000 users across the U.S. and Israel. In the U.S., the DayTwo is working with large employers and health plans. In Israel, a collaboration with Clalit Health is underway and one with Maccabi Health Services is expected for the future.
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