Startup firm January AI recently announced its acquisition of funds amounting to $8.8 million in the latest funding round, reported Venture Beat. The company offers a subscription program for diabetes patients, offering comprehensive services.
The funding round was participated by Felicis Ventures, HAND Capital, AME Cloud Ventures, and SignalFire. Other backers were also present including former Illumina CTO and Grail co-founder Mostafa Ronaghi, Home Care Assistance CEO Lily Sarafa, and Oracle veteran Kennedy.
The recently acquired additional funds bring the total amount raised by the company to $21 million.
January AI Noosheen Hashemi founder and CEO are optimistic about this development. He said, “We’re thrilled to join with this incredible team of leaders in technology and venture to bring January AI to millions of Americans with or at risk of developing diabetes,” cited BusinessWire.
The startup uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to “[turn] food into actionable health data,” according to Felicis Ventures founder and managing partner Aydin Senkut.
“While other companies have made headway in understanding biometric sensor data – from heart rate and glucose monitors, for example – January has made progress in analyzing and predicting the effects of food consumption itself.”
“Understanding what people eat is key to addressing metabolic health and chronic disease. Aggregating a food atlas at 16 million items, including local restaurant menus, January has used machine learning to create nutritional labels and glycemic index for everyday foods Americas eat,” he said.
To offer its services, the company charges $488 to subscribe to the wellness program called Season of Me. It covers telehealth consultation with a licensed professional, two continuous glucose monitors, and a 90-day membership to the application.
According to January, the per-member cost savings for enterprise customers is around $850 to $1,400 annually.
Season of Me offers a comprehensive insight into the user’s health, particularly their diet, exercise, and sleeping habits in relation to their blood sugar. The application gives patients suggestions on what foods to avoid and exercises to do.
January is able to provide its services by partnering with pharmaceutical companies to study the effects of drugs used to treat metabolic diseases. Specifically, it looks at medications’ effects on patients’ lifestyles and physiologies.
It implements AI and ML in providing personalized services to individual patients in the form of food, heart rate, and data. The data is used by January to provide prognostic, predictive, and associative monitoring.
