Fitbit, long the leader in the fitness wearables space, has reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission its acquisition earlier this month of the fitness app maker Fitstar.
A Fitbit spokeswoman confirmed that to VentureBeat, but would not confirm that the $17.8 million figure reported in the filing was the exact cost of the acquisition.
The $17.8 figure may represent the total equity that changed hands between the two companies, but there may also have been a cash element of the total acquisition price.
Align, a healthcare software company based in Wausau, WI, has raised $2 million from investors, a new SEC filing shows.
The news is significant because it’s a relatively large sum for a Wisconsin tech company to raise in its first major equity funding round, particularly one located in central Wisconsin, where there aren’t many software startups.
Like its West Coast cohort One Medical, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Iora Health is trying to take some of the age-old hassle out of primary care, and it’s raised $28 million in new funding to do this.
Iora’s system uses telemedicine platforms to reach remote patients. It also reduces wait times for office visits. The end result of these things, it believes, is a better patient experience, better clinical outcomes, and a reduction in overall health care costs.
Most seniors would like to remain independent, and continue to live in their own home as long as possible. It’s important that they can do so in a safe way. Technology can help ease the worries about not knowing if an aging family member has wandered off, hurt themselves, or forgotten to take their medication.
The elderly population in the U.S is expected to double between now and 2050 (and presumably also the healthcare costs), making it even more important to better facilitate remote patient monitoring. At the same time, investment in tech to meet the needs of the coming age bubble have been doubling down. Here are a few interesting tools that can assist the elderly to stay safe in their own home:
The Food and Drug Administration posted two draft guidance documents today saying that it intends to use a light touch when regulating medical devices and accessories that are focused on general wellness.
Such products are those designed to “maintain or encourage a general state of health and may associate a healthy lifestyle with reducing the risk or impact of certain diseases or conditions.”
Many in the medical tech community have been deeply concerned that an overzealous FDA could stifle desperately-needed innovation in the development of new health technologies. Those people are likely to be happy about today’s news.
Scanning through the fitness- and health-focused wearables being presented here at the Unveiled event at CES, it seems that most essentially do the same things and are targeted at the same people.
There’s a ton of gadgets for tracking your heart rate and steps, perfect for attaining those six-pack abs and rippling legs or whatever it is people are looking to tighten up.
Among the sea of bands and pucks and straps offering those same features, I noticed a kind of silly-looking pair of plastic sensors that do something that lands a bit closer to home: they help you strengthen muscles involved with lower back pain.
Because of changes to the way the government and commercial insurers are reimbursing for health services, health insurers and providers are looking for ways to control the costs of caring for members. The best way, perhaps, is to keep them healthy on an ongoing basis. Healthy plan members use less health services than unhealthy ones, allowing the insurer to keep more of every premium dollar.
That’s why consumer health engagement platforms like Welltok’s have been attracting both new customers and new investment dollars in the last few years.
HeiaHeia, a Finnish startup offering a social and corporate wellness platform that helps employees live a healthier lifestyle — and, presumably, perform better at work — has raised €1.5 million in funding led by Finland’s Wallstreet Financial Services. In addition, unnamed private investors participated, along with Tekes, the Finnish taxpayer-funded agency for innovation. This represents the first external investment for the otherwise bootstrapped and profitable company.
