Hello Heart, the only digital therapeutic that focuses on heart health, announced that it has raised $70 million in Series D financing to support significant growth in customer demand.
The focus on prioritizing heart health has intensified in light of the Surgeon General’s Call to Action to improve hypertension control across the United States and the CDC’s recommendation that employers should now provide coverage for automated home blood pressure monitors. As a result, Hello Heart is seeing a significant increase in demand for heart health solutions. The company doubled the number of employer clients they serve in the last couple of months alone. Hello Heart’s solution is now available to millions of members. The Hello Heart app has shown the highest engagement rate in the category, with sustained long-term app engagement.
A study recently published in JAMA Network Open analyzed data from over 28,000 Hello Heart users. One year post-enrollment, reduced median systolic blood pressure was observed in over 85% of users who had Stage 2 hypertension at baseline. Greater engagement with the app was associated with lower systolic blood pressure over time.
The Validation Institute issued a report validating Hello Heart’s cost savings and return on investment (ROI) methodology, demonstrating a reduction of total employer medical spend by an average of $1,865 per participant per year.
As the pandemic wears off, employers are now looking for solutions that are also a means to move the needle on Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Per the CDC, many underserved populations have higher rates of disease and death associated with high blood pressure, creating health disparities. Hello Heart’s app is designed to be accessible to many underserved populations.
Maayan Cohen, Co-Founder and CEO of Hello Heart, said:
Hypertension affects 47% of Americans, and heart health in some way touches all of us. Everyone has a family member or colleague that is affected by heart disease. We empower people to understand, manage, and self-improve their heart health using the app technology and behavioral science. We make it easy for employers to work with Hello Heart, and it just works. We are thrilled to be working with so many of the nation’s leading employers as they empower their employees to make smart and healthy choices.
The company’s flagship solution is an FDA-cleared blood pressure monitor coupled with an app. The app empowers people to track their blood pressure, pulse, medications, weight and activity using AI-based technology. The app provides real-time alerts to extremely high readings and encourages users to reach out to their physicians and healthcare professionals to catch risk in time. Looking ahead, Hello Heart intends to deepen the use cases of their artificial intelligence (AI) engines to help manage heart health, which will include enhancing lifestyle digital coaching modules, and adding whole heart health functionality such as deeper medication tracking capabilities, cholesterol tracking and hyperlipidemia digital coaching.
Ron Shah, Partner at Stripes, said:
Hypertension and other cardiac diseases are the most pervasive chronic conditions and largest cost drivers in the U.S. healthcare system. Hello Heart stands out as the only dedicated, fully digital program with an incredible patient experience that drives exceptional results. Our investment extends our longstanding thesis that amazing products can deliver amazing results, even with some of our most intractable and challenging problems. We’re confident that Hello Heart is on a path toward improving the health and lives of millions of Americans, and we’re proud to back this amazing mission-driven, product-oriented team.
