To Fight Chronic Disease in its Root, a New Health Tech Gets Funded by LAUNCHub Ventures.

How a €6 million seed round is set to challenge healthcare as we know it? Why Index Health got our backing.

Index Health is a US-based health technology company that is changing medicine with an individual, data-first approach to treating chronic conditions.

Its method finds the root cause of the disease to devise a plan to reverse the chronic condition, as opposed to just treating current symptoms.

We, alongside Inovo Venture Partners, co-led Index Health’s €6 million seed round to disrupt conventional healthcare, and bring comprehensive and functional medicine to the masses.

The explosion in telehealth adoption mirroring the realities of the pandemics certainly outlined a market opportunity. But our reasons to back Index Health went beyond jumping on a bandwagon that has a high chance of delivering a unicorn. We are excited by

The method, not just the vehicle

We were impressed by the data-driven, scientific and highly personalized method that would employ 1000+ data points in lab testing, AI, and an in-depth diagnostic process to help physicians attack the core cause of the patient’s condition.

The patient is guided through a committed process starting with a 1-hour conversation, extensive lab tests, and months of regular monitoring on the patient’s progress spearheaded by a physician and a nutritionist. The platform is designed to keep not only the personal indicators in check, but also the motivation to improve.

Exactly what ‘tech’ in Health Tech should stand for: data and technology that allow physicians to concentrate on treatment, not simply applying band-aid to symptoms.

Compare that to a typical 15-minute appointment at the doctor’s office that would inevitably end with a prescription and a trip to the pharmacy.

Healthcare starts, not ends, with care

Recent pandemics not only made people care more about their health. It also exacerbated the growing frustrations of patients with the medical treatment. More than 131 million people — 2 in 3 of all adults in the United States — use prescription drugs mainly to treat or suppress symptoms.

Conventional practices over-reliance on medication and focus on alleviating the symptoms, made patients with chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes realize they are swimming in circles. Thus more chronic disease sufferers turned to complementary practices to improve and monitor their wellbeing, challenging the drug therapies.

Then there is a long-standing trend towards healthier lifestyle, better nutrition, and weariness of the ubiquitousness of prescription drugs. The opioid crisis in the US was a case in point: addictive substances were prescribed on a mass scale, damaging the wellbeing of millions of lives. With highly-publicized class action lawsuits against Big Pharma over the years, society has been keeping a closer eye on what’s in the pill and why it is prescribed.

Doctors too sense a change is needed, and are increasingly implementing methods beyond drugs and surgery. More than half of physicians based in office set-ups in the U.S. have recommended at least one complementary health intervention to their patients.

Simply laying the blame on medical professionals is wrong, the system itself is in dire need of surgery.

Co-founder Luka Ivicevic started Index Health after upsetting experiences with an inefficient healthcare system struggling to diagnose a family member. Their health only started to get better after uncovering the root causes of the illness with a visit to a functional medicine practitioner. Seeing the improvement first-hand, Ivicevic came up with a platform that would employ the most advanced technology to bring the root cause medicine to the fore.

A solution that works

Index Health’s platform brings user value in three key areas:

1. Root cause approach: To determine the root cause, Index Health leverages its advanced and cost-effective lab tests, data to medical professionals to truly understand the patient and their ailments.
2. Personalization: After finding the root cause, Index Health prescribes functional medicine plans developed solely for the patient. Those are a combination of improvements in lifestyle and nutrition, supplements, and medication.
3. Ongoing support: Patients receive ongoing support from dedicated medical staff. They get advanced primary care, retesting, regular follow-up appointments, therapy, and extensive monitoring. Patients no longer have to feel alone in their journey to wellness, they are also extra motivated by improvement in condition and staff commitment.

A mission beyond opportunity

Aside from healthtech’s $4 trillion market opportunity, we invested in Index Health with a strong conviction in its growth potential and the team’s quest to make healthcare holistic, comprehensive, and accessible. Index Health is right at the forefront of the changing attitude towards healthcare.

1. Humans-first: As a result of pandemics, 77% of people want to pay more attention to their health.
2. Virtual Healthcare: the use of telehealth services has soared 38x on the back of COVID-19.
3. Inherently individualized: Patients are looking toward value-based healthcare and pushing back on conventional medicine and raising the demand for nutrition-based health improvements.
4. Affordability: The cost of healthcare has been steadily on the rise for decades and is skyrocketing now. Subscription-based telemedicine naturally drives the cost down.

A team with vision

The founders bring vast business experience and have an impressive pedigree: This is a team that helped challenger bank Penta to prominence, and Luka Ivicevic is one of the most focused individuals we have worked with. Our support would translate into new hires of specialized medical professionals, engineering talent, and expansion into all 50 states using telemedicine.

Founders’ plan is to serve 1 million patients in 3 years. The mission is to get 1 billion people access to Root Cause Medicine.

We trust Index Health’s ability to leverage changing consumer behavior while creating a purpose-driven vision is making us excited about the future of healthcare.