Deal to Watch: Disease Management Through Technology

Key Stats:

Summary

At time of publication, June 20th, 2019, Gali Health had raised, $63,000 of the $900,000 offering.

The Gali Health team has been selected as a “Deal To Watch” by KingsCrowd. This distinction is reserved for deals selected into the top 10-20% of our due diligence funnel. If you have questions regarding our deal diligence and selection methodology please reach out to [email protected].

Problem

Healthcare is a huge industry in the United States, as well as globally, typically accounting for about 10% of the GDP in developed nations. Within the U.S., this figure is even higher at 18%, reaching $3.5 trillion or $10,739 per person. However, there is no question that our healthcare is suffering in today’s day and age. Healthcare expenditure is skyrocketing to almost 20% of America’s GDP – the highest in the world – yet many indicators depict worsening performance.

And hand in hand with this decreasing performance comes a rising cost. Healthcare has been steadily increasing for the last few years with most of the spending tied to treatment rather than prevention, creating a large gap in the market that still needs to be filled. 56% of users targeted with current mobile health solutions are already ill, if not chronically ill, leaving those attempting to prevent sicknesses without many options.

In fact, predictions show that in 2030, the number of people in the U.S. suffering from chronic diseases will jump from about 50% to 75%, making this a serious issue – especially considering that of the $3.5 trillion spent on healthcare, 90% is spent on people with chronic and mental health conditions. 

With increasing costs, not much focus being places on personalization and prevention, and people losing hope in the American healthcare system there comes a dire need for a solution.

Solution

Noticing this growing frustration, Gali Health has brought it upon themselves to create an innovative solution that strives to make sure no patient feels “isolated, lost, or powerless” when it comes to taking control over their own health and tackling existing or potential disease.

By using artificial intelligence and deep learning, Gali Health uses mobile health technology to curate a personalized disease management platform for all kinds of users facing all kinds of illnesses. Gali relies on an individual’s health information fed into the platform and collective intelligence to help people with chronic conditions proactively and preemptively manage their own health.  

Gali not only works to empower patients and provide tools and suggestions before health problems arise, but also adds a level or trust and safety in what seems to be a failing healthcare system. Amazingly, research shows that this makes perfect sense considering that more and more people tend to turn to social networks for support in this generation. In fact, 74% of Internet users engage on social media and 80% of those are looking for health-related information. 

The market for mobile health technology is definitely attractive, expected to grow by 33.5% annually and hit $120 billion by 2025, and there are many players in this industry targeting issues from giving doctors a platform to reach patients to letting users know what illnesses to watch out for – but almost none operate quite like Gali Health.  

The only other formidable competitor is b.well, also striving to integrate and personalize medical information including genomic data – one of Gali Health’s claimed differentiating factors. However, the main difference is that while b.well is designed for employers and insurance providers, Gali Health is for the every day user simply looking out for their own health. Gali Health is easier to use and more designed to address personal needs on a daily basis, giving it the competitive edge right now.

Why We Like it

1. Success so far: Thus far, Gali Health has raised over $2M from top investors in biotech, consumer products, and genomics. This huge investment in the company and its mission as well as Gali Health’s quick rise to the top in such a short period of time are testament to the platform’s ability and promise – as well as the potential those with experience see.

This is further proven by Gali Health’s established collaborations with researchers at the prominent Stanford Hospital and UCSF. In the near future, Gali Health hopes to use their platform for personalized medicine programs and partnerships with pharma as well.

2. Founded with passion: The true reason why some startups end up being more successful than others is the passion behind them and Gali Health is completely fueled by this. Founder Ilya Kupershmidt founded this company after his grandmother, Gali, who suffered from illness but whose care and love were unconditional.

In an effort to make healthcare solutions and information more accessible and helpful to all, this platform was created and everyone on board has the same mission to constantly provide relevant, medically-validated information to whoever needs it.

3. Business model: Unlike many other mHealth platforms and applications, Gali Health offers an option that is free of charge to global chronic disease communities. Not only does this instill more trust within the company, but speaks to the true mission of wanting to help as many people as possible without profits being the main motive.

4. Unique management: Gali Health’s unique platform allows an exploration of individualized comprehensive solutions that address day-to-day management and provide valuable insights into the underlying mechanisms of each disease. Each user is able to find suggestions and information tailored to them specifically as well as join a community of so many other suffering from a similar disease or sickness.

5. The “Health Feed”: Much like social media apps, Gali Health has taken advantage of the fact that users appreciate a sense of community and the ability to connect with other through the Internet and mobile devices – creating a “health feed”. Feeds are personalized to each user and provide information, learning programs, and illness management support through doctors and patient-derived insights. These feeds are constantly being updated and improved through AI learning and the constant amounts of real-world data being funneled into the platform.

Founders

As briefly mentioned before, Ilya Kuperchmidt, Founder and CEO, has founded Gali Health with the utmost passion and love for helping others – truly wanting positive change to come out of his company’s offering. Ilya is a biotech entrepreneur known for creating transformative products and businesses at the intersections of health, human genome, and software.

He previously co-founded NextBio, a biotech company focused on applying large-scale patient and genomic data for therapeutic and clinical discoveries. While NextBio was acquired by sequencing pioneer Illumina, Ilya led the company’s software products and informatics strategy and learned many necessary skills that he is now using for Gali Health.

The team Ilya assembled has first-hand experience in launching new ventures in biotech and genomics, creating consumer products and mobile applications, providing medical care, and conducting clinical research, patient advocacy, and building engaged communities. Gali Health’s team has the passion and capability to take this company to the next level, truly having great success and impact on the U.S. and world at large.

Rating

Gali Health is a Deal To Watch. While there is a wealth of health information shared online, it tends to have little to no value when taken out of an individual’s health context. With most of the world living with chronic conditions, Gali Health realizes that there is a desperate need for resources, care, and the ability to feel in control of some aspect of one’s healthcare journey.  

By providing this mobilized individual health information and collective intelligence platform, Gali Health is forging the way to help people proactively manage their health while interacting with others in a natural way.

With the team’s passion and commitment to their mission, a growth in the mHealth industry, a clear gap when it comes to preventative and informative chronic illness applications, and the unique management and layout of Gali Health – this is definitely a Deal To Watch.