Withings, a designer of smartwatches and medical-grade connected devices, announced a $60 million Series B funding round.
The round was led by co-led by healthcare investment firm Gilde Healthcare, and Withings partners and investors, Idinvest Partners and Bpifrance, through their Large Venture funds, as well as BNP Paribas Développement, ODDO BHF Private Equity, and Adelie Capital.
Withings says it will invest the new funds to scale its dedicated business-to-business (B2B) division Withings MED PRO and accelerate the development of consumer health devices that bring medical grade and predictive capabilities into the home.
Withings founded as a consumer electronics company in 2008 in France. The company received its first institutional investment of $30 million in 2013. The investment round was led by Bpifrance, which injected $15 million, Idinvest Partners, 360 Capital Partners, and Ventech.
The company’s offerings include smartwatches, smart scales, blood pressure monitors, sleep monitors, and thermometers. Its medical-grade devices capture 20 vital health parameters such as blood pressure, ECG, weight, heart rate, activity levels, sleep apnea, and sleep patterns, according to the company.
In 2016, Withings was acquired by Nokia for approximately $191 million. With Nokia, the company later launched its first set of health products, including smartwatches, blood pressure monitors, weighing scale, and redesigning the Withings Health app.
But the Finnish company Nokia did not have a smooth journey with the acquisition of Withings. Nokia faced backlash for redesigning the Withings Health app and the withdrawal of innovative features from its smart scales.
Later, Nokia announced a write-down of goodwill relating to the Withings purchase worth €141 million ($164 million).
In 2018, Withings was re-acquired by a group (including its original founders and some of its original investors, for an undisclosed amount) from Nokia.
Since being re-acquired, Withings is focused on developing its offering of consumer health hardware. Last year, Withings launched MED PRO, a B2B division that allows medical professionals, researchers, institutions, payers, disease management programs, and coaching platforms to leverage Withings devices and data analytics within their ecosystems.
According to the company, the B2B division offers remote patient and telemedicine services and solutions for dedicated health programs that manage chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart health, sleep, and weight management.
“I strongly believe in technology’s ability to transform society’s health by allowing anyone to regularly monitor their vitals from home and involve health professionals in this process,” said Eric Carreel, President and co-founder of Withings.
“Today, we are in an exciting time where medicine is becoming personalized, continuous, and based on data analysis, and I am proud Withings is at the heart of this revolution. With funding from like-minded partners, we can scale our efforts globally and continue to invest in new technologies and AI tools that can detect and predict medical conditions,” further added Eric Carreel.
With this Series B round, Withings has now raised almost $100 million.
Wearable Sensors companies raised $321 million in 1H of 2020.
Image Credit: Withings
