DayTwo, a maker of diet advice app based on gut bacteria, raises $37 million
Startup’s existing investors and new ones participate in funding round; app helps people with diabetes and other metabolic diseases eat best-suited foods
Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter
Israeli startup DayTwo, whose app provides customized nutrition recommendations based on an analysis of gut bacteria, has raised $37 million to continue the development of its technologies.
The firm’s app is designed to improve the health of people with diabetes and other metabolic diseases.
DayTwo’s existing investors participated in the current funding round — including the aMoon VC fund of Marius Nacht and Dr. Yair Schindel, 10D of Yahal Zilka, and Cathay Innovation Ventures. They were joined by new investors, including Poalim Capital Markets, La’maison Fund and Micron Ventures.
Including this round, the startup, founded in 2015, has raised to date $85 million from investors, DayTwo said in a statement.
The app, used by 70,000 consumers in Israel and the US, is based on research and technology that was developed at the Weizmann Institute by professors Eran Segal and Eran Elinav. The solution uses artificial intelligence, the sequencing of the gut microbiome and other clinical measures to create precision nutrition-based food prescriptions to balance blood sugar levels after meals.
“DayTwo has the largest microbiome database in the world containing medical, nutritional, behavioral data and deep genetic sequencing of the intestinal bacteria of tens of thousands of people,” said Adi Lev, DayTwo’s deputy CEO for Research & Development. “The capital raised will fund continuation of the research into the links between the bacteria in our bodies and other diseases, and the development of new algorithms, in order to provide new scientific discoveries that will have proven clinical outcomes.”
The current round of funding comes after the company demonstrated the clinical impact of decreased blood sugar levels and a decrease in prescription medication costs on participants in the DayTwo program in the US, the statement said.
As a result, DayTwo is working with employers and health plans in the US market. In the Israeli market, the company is collaborating with health provider Clalit Health Services, which provides DayTwo’s solution to its members, and the company expects to launch a similar collaboration with Maccabi Health Services, the startup said in a statement.
“Our solution leads to a significant and rapid reduction in healthcare costs due to a reduction in prescription medication, fewer visits to the doctor, fewer complex surgical procedures with accompanying complications in the case of diabetes and metabolic diseases,” said Lihi Segal, CEO and founder of DayTwo. “We will continue to invest resources, expand our development center in Israel, and bring in expert developers in order to intensify our research on intestinal bacteria and develop additional solutions with real clinical impact.”
DayTwo was founded by Nacht, one of the founders of cybersecurity firm Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., together Segal, the CEO, and Yuval Ofek.
