In this digital day and age, almost everything that you need is available in the form of an app, be it ordering food, booking tickets or seeking medical attention. But, there are a few domains that remain difficult to digitise and physiotherapy is one such field. However, Germany based digital therapeutics company Kaia Health has managed to digitise the process to offer 2D motion tracking technology. It enables users to receive real-time feedback on how they are performing exercises, with the help of their smartphone’s camera.
Kaia Health has now announced that it has secured €7.22 million in its latest round of funding. Recently, Silicon Canals received an opportunity to chat with the company’s CEO Konstantin Mehl, and we found out more about what the startup is planning to do next and more.
Funding details
The latest round of funding for Kaia Health was its Series A extension where, as mentioned earlier, the company raised €7.22 million. The funding round was led by Optum Ventures and the company will be utilising the fresh funds to accelerate its sales growth in the US health care market, extending its platform into other chronic indications and expand the supporting clinical evidence base.
“The investment from Optum Ventures will allow us to explore integration opportunities throughout the complete patient treatment journey,” says Konstantin Mehl, Founder and CEO of Kaia Health. “We are proud to partner with Optum Ventures, a company at the cash forefront of improving health care.”
The idea
Almost every startup has a core idea that it is built around and Kaia is no exception. The company’s founder suffered from chronic back pain and ended up at a pain center to perform four weeks of full-time therapy, which is called the multimodal pain therapy. This is where the idea for Kaia app was born and the multimodal pain therapy is what the app digitised and is making it available for everyone.
How Kaia app works
The Kaia Health app can help users relieve Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSK) such as chronic back pain. It covers physical exercises, offers Physiotherapeutic strengthening exercise, relaxation exercises, along with background information about back pain. Mehl says that the daily exercise program is tailored for a user and it takes up 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the user’s pain history and feedback.
The Kaia back pain app is available for download via the App Store and Google Play with a 7-day free-trial. Currently, it is available in English and German and the company is planning to add more languages by early 2020.
It uses AI!
One of the most exciting elements of the Kaia app is that it employs Artificial Intelligence (AI) to deliver real-time feedback. The app makes use of AI-powered motion tracking technology that is said to deliver real-time feedback on how well one is performing the physical exercises.” It’s like having a physical therapist at your side, from the comfort of your home – and users love it. As it’s based on AI, it’s available 24/7, so you don’t have to schedule a time with your personal coach or anything like that – it’s very convenient.” Mehl notes.
What’s next?
While Kaia Health has already revealed what it intends to do with the funds it has acquired in the latest round, we asked the CEO about the direction the company is headed towards. As per Mehl, Kaia has a business headquarter is situated in New York. “It already works with some of the biggest players in the healthcare system to integrate Kaia in the general treatment landscape. Our goal is to integrate Kaia wherever patients with repeat back pain require a solution. We’re also investing a lot in clinical research and building our computer vision capabilities,” says Mehl.
Founder’s advice for funding seekers
For those of you who are the proprietor of a startup looking to get some funding, here’s some advice for you from Kaia Health’s CEO. Mehl firmly believes that one needs to build a product or a service that the users will fall in love with, and prove this to the investors. However, most founders overlook this when they raise their seed round.
Image credits: Kaia Health
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