Livongo Health launches to help diabetics manage their disease

Livongo Health launches to help diabetics manage their disease

Livongo Health is a new startup that has officially launched at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2014. The Palo Alto-based company was founded by Allscripts’ former CEO Glen Tullman to help diabetics manage their disease.

Backed by $10 million from the venture capital firm General Catalyst, Livongo is working on a new way to test and monitor insulin levels for diabetics.

Livongo Health will sell an FDA-cleared two-way, interactive glucometer, unlimited supplies for monitoring, cloud-based analytics, and real-time monitoring and support, to customers.Diabetes affects 29.1 million people in the U.S. offering significant opportunity for the company. In this industry, however, doctors see their patients twice a year under existing treatment regimens, and use a six month average to determine the health of their patients. “We’re developing a tool that allows, by monitoring your blood, to signal to you and others when you have dangerously low blood sugar,” Tullman says.

While Livongo wants to make a universal platform for treating all kinds of chronic diseases, they are starting with the biggest problem first. To that end, Livongo Health will sell an FDA-cleared two-way, interactive glucometer, unlimited supplies for monitoring, cloud-based analytics, and real-time monitoring and support, to customers.

The company already has thousands of orders from places like Healthcare Partners and Office Depot, as well as self-insured employers.

“This is a $250 billion market in the U.S. that affects one out of every ten people,” says Tullman.

Initially backed by Tullman’s own 7wire Ventures, General Catalyst joined Livongo’s list of backers earlier this year to help it scale operations and reach new clients.

[Via: TechCrunch]