DarioHealth seeks sales bump for smart diabetes monitor

Funding round led by OurCrowd’s Qure Digital Health fund, for US company whose mobile glucose-tracking device is based on Israeli technology

Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter

DarioHealth Corp. has developed a smart device to monitor glucose levels in the blood. (Courtesy)
DarioHealth Corp. has developed a smart device to monitor glucose levels in the blood. (Courtesy)

DarioHealth Corp., a Delaware-based firm that has developed a smart device to monitor glucose levels in the blood, is seeking to expand its sales in the US and Europe and in new markets, raising $5.1 million in a private placement of shares.

The funding round was led by OurCrowd’s Qure Digital Health fund.

The company’s mobile monitor, developed in Israel, helps patients manage their diabetes on the go by providing them an all-in-one blood glucose meter. The plastic device, which looks a bit like a cigarette lighter, has a lancing device, a holder for 25 diabetes monitoring strips, and a fold-out, USB-like meter that connects to smartphones or tablets.

The users then just need to prick their fingers and press the blood over the strip that is inserted into the meter. The information is transmitted from the meter into the phone where the DarioHealth app reads the results which can be sent to doctors and healthcare systems. The app also issues real-time emergency alerts to family members via a text message, including the GPS location of the patient.

One in 11 adults globally suffers from diabetes, a metabolic disease in which patients record high sugar levels for a prolonged period of time. Twelve percent of global health expenditure is spent on the illness — some $673 billion, according to DarioHealth’s website, with 29.1 million people in the US suffering from the life-threatening condition.

The company, whose shares are traded on the Nasdaq, received Food and Drug Administration approval in 2016 for use on an iPhone and recently launched its product in the US, the world’s largest market for glucose monitoring. “US sales are expected to have a significant impact on revenues and gross margins,” the company said in a statement.

With marketing clearance in Europe and the US, the Dario iOS mobile app recently launched with reimbursement in the United Kingdom, Australia, Israel, Italy, and Canada, and has also launched in New Zealand, Netherlands, Italy, and Belgium, the company said.

The company has offices in Caesarea and Boston.

DarioHealth’s “solution offers a unique user experience approach combined with personalized disease management tools,” said Allen Kamer, managing partner, OurCrowd Qure. “Dario’s global footprint and direct to consumer expansion strategy offer significant growth potential and truly disrupt current healthcare delivery.”

OurCrowd Qure was launched by the Jerusalem-based crowdfunding venture capital fund OurCrowd in November 2016 as Israel’s first exclusively focused digital health fund. The fund focuses on investing in innovative digital health startups.

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