Member Article

Healthtech startup OurPath raises £500k to tackle diabetes

The London-based healthtech business OurPath has announced it has secured £500k in venture capital and angel investment less than a year after its full launch.

Funding has come from American VC 500 Startups along with Bethnal Green Ventures and unnamed private angel investors.

Founded by Cambridge University scientist Mike Gibbs and Oxford University engineer Chris Edson, the firm has developed a programme which combines live support with educational content to help encourage lifestyle changes among those at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

According to research, one in three people in the UK have pre-diabetes due to inactive lifestyles and poor diets, and 70% of those will develop type 2 diabetes in the future if they don’t change their lifestyles.

OurPath hopes to tackle this problem through its six week programme which combines activity trackers and wireless scales to help those with unhealthy habits monitor their weight and activity levels in tandem with diet plans and daily interactive content.

Currently available to consumers for a flat fee of £149, the startup’s programme has also just become the first-ever behavioural change programme to be commissioned by the NHS.

Trials are set to be rolled out this month in GP practices in north west London this month and, if successful, could see the initiative rolled out in practices across the UK.

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