Ginger.io, the behavioral health analytics startup, today announced a $6.5 million Series A funding round led by Khosla Ventures. Existing seed investors True Ventures and Romulus Capital also participated. Ginger.io is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the need for proactive population management, which has been highlighted by recent healthcare legislation. The company's platform provides a 'check-engine light' for a person's health in the form of an alert that can be sent to a provider, caregiver or individual.
Drawing on research from the MIT Media Lab, Ginger.io's mobile application uses an individual's smartphone to identify changes in behavior that correlate with his or her health. The company is evaluating its system across a number of key conditions including depression, diabetes and cardiovascular disease to demonstrate that it can reduce costs and improve the quality of care. The latest version of the Ginger.io platform, released earlier this fall, provides both a provider team and a patient with health insights based on that person's behavior.
"We are at a time of great disruption in healthcare," said Vinod Khosla, founding partner of Khosla Ventures. "Ginger.io is at the forefront of data-driven technology and healthcare, with the potential to transform the way we manage chronic disease populations, and we're excited to help the Ginger.io team drive this transition."
Jon Callaghan, a founding partner of True Ventures, added, "Ginger.io is exactly the kind of mission-driven company we love to work with at True. We were Ginger.io's first institutional investor back in 2011, and we are thrilled to continue to support them in this round."
This financing is the capstone on a year of growth for Ginger.io. Since raising its seed round just over a year ago, the company has expanded, absorbed the Rock Health startup Pipette, and opened a San Francisco, California office in addition to its Cambridge, Massachusetts location. It has launched a number of important partnerships, including Cincinnati Children's Hospital's Chronic Collaborative Care Network (C3N), and Carolinas-based hospital system Novant. The company has also received industry recognition for applying its platform to supporting individuals living with chronic conditions and their family member caregivers, with awards from Sanofi's 2011 Data Design Diabetes contest and Janssen's 2012 Alzheimer's Challenge.
"We've had a tremendous influx of interest from providers and patients over the last year," said Anmol Madan, CEO of Ginger.io. "This additional capital will help us scale the team and product, and further our mission of changing how patients are supported away from the doctor's office."
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