Saks Snacks #17: Wellness Funding, Burn-to-Earn, Social Tokens, and More
Humane's AR Wearable | Abbott Moves into Consumer Game
Hi friends from Park City, Utah š ,
Hereās our quick health tech content this week, with a new section (#2).
š„ Snacks of the Week x5, spanning senior care, DIY diagnostics,
š Web3 + Health Snacks x3 - burn to earn concepts & NFTās
š° Capital Raise Radar x4 - smart contacts, recovery facilities, NEXT VENTÅŖRESās new newsletter, and Levelsā uniqueness,
Weekly Musings
šļø Pods of the Week (x3): social tokens, content creation, and Genopets
š„ Spark Moment - scatter focus, sleep technique
#1 š„ Snacks of the week (4)
AR wearables: Humane uses Android to build what looks to be an AR wearable with laser projected ādisplayā for any surface
Humane, a startup founded by ex-Apple employees, looks to have a different approach that involves essentially an Android-powered wearable camera that uses lasers to project a screen on any surface, including the palm of your hand
Theyāve been very secretive but have boldly stated itās ābuilding innovative tech that feels familiar, natural, and humanā, with a mission to "reimagine computingā.
š“ Senior Care - The days of collecting intermittent data exclusively within the four hospital walls, ER, ICU, are goneā¦ HealthTech Magazine shares 3 Senior Care Tech Trends to Watch in 2022. The āhospital at homeā care model will surge as virtual care tech is adopted and seniors continue preferring staying in their homes and communities.
Abbott will expand the glucose monitoring space: the $240B U.S. medical device is moving into making general-purpose consumer bio-sensing wearables. In a health-tech keynote at CES, Abbottās CEO announced Lingo, its new line of consumer bio wearables intended for general wellness and fitnessā sake. Theyāre also developing a wearable that continuously tracks ketones.
Daniel Kraft, MDās take on the future of health & medicine- By 2031, expect genome sequence prices of <=$100, including those done withĀ 3rd Generation/ Long-Read Sequencing.Ā Ā An excellent 15-20 minute read.
The nascent Metaverse will be maturing, and the 'Med'averse will be a home for elements of medical education, VR-based treatment, and even healthy social engagement.Ā
ā21 Trends - DIY diagnostics: From food sensitivity to fertility and the microbiome, at-home test kits are in high demand. Seizing the opportunity, Everlywell raised $250M, notching a $3B valuation and rebranding to Everly Health. Similarly, LetsGetChecked landed $150M at a $1.5B valuation. (from Fitt Insiderās Year-end Review)
#2 š Web3 Snacks of the week (3)
'āBurn to earnā venture: I was introduced to Calo Metaverse recently- itās a fitness app that integrates blockchain, AR + VR, and fitness to make your workout activities more gamified. Weāve covered move-to-earn models in the past, and this project boasting over 83,700 Telegram ācommunityā members was new to my radar.
According to Amaraās Law, we tend to overestimate the short-term impact of new technology and underestimate its long-term effect. Itās still unclear whether we will see Web3ās impact on fitness in the short-term but given the recent digital transformation of fitness we may underestimate the longer term impact.
I think the āmove-to-earnā space could use a subtle rebrand to āmove and earnā, taking the focus solely away from earning to emphasize movement.
Another move to earn NFT concept is Stepn, which doesnāt require people to own NFT assets to play, making it a more friendly on-ramp for non-crypto natives.
Web 3: Could Web3 and NFTs transform the future of fitness or is it another fad? - I appreciated Finnās exploration of how NFTās could apply to fitness, his review of existing health and fitness NFT projects, and acknowledgment that these projects are aiming to ādrive a collective shift towards more physical movement and a healthier future.ā
#3 š° Ā Capital Raise Radar Snacks
Mojo Vision announced a $45M Series B to put smart contacts in athletesā eyes, partnering with Adidas, Trailforks, Wearable X (yoga), & other sports brands. The tech still isnāt market-ready - theyāre seeking FDA approval.
Mojo Lens is ostensibly years away from commercialization, however the company announced at CES 2022 that itās taking a step forward by partnering with a number of fitness brands to explore how to better integrate its smart contact lenses into sports and training. Mojo Vision has partnered with Adidas Running, Trailforks, Wearable X, Slopes and 18Birdies.
Wellness Funding from Fitt Insider: Restore, a health and recovery-service provider, raised $140M in December. They offer IV drip therapy, infrared saunas, red light therapy, biomarker assessments, cryotherapy, compression, assisted stretching, and more. I expect to continue seeing more physical locations designated to general wellness and recovery, such as in-person meditation, breathwork, cold/heat exposure, etc.
Founded in 2015, the company counts 115 locations in 34 states. In 2021, Restore delivered 1.5M services ā with systemwide sales growing 158% YoY.
A franchise model, Restore plans to add 100+ locations next year. - FittInsider
Putting š° Into Performance Optimization: If youāve resonated with the "human optimization" pieces I've put out, you'll want toĀ follow along withĀ NEXT VENTÅŖRESā newsletter. They'll be outlining themes within their human optimization thesis on a monthly basis, such as this one:
Looking ahead, we believe that Terra can also play a huge role in the growth of digital health by turning aggregated biomarker data into real world evidence (RWE) that leads to better clinical care and outcomes.
As I outlined in edition 3, I believe Terra will play a huge role transforming digital health as their API solves a large problem around fragmented health data.
Venture Dynamics: Levelsā raised $5million in less than six hours, allowing the Levels community to participate in the round. Hereās their 2021 Year in Review. The way they default to open is admirable, and if you havenāt seen how they build in public, I highly recommend you check it out. As weāve discussed, this is a prime example of how ventures raises are changing and will continue to change.
Weekly Musings
#4šļø Pods of the Week (ā22 listens)
For those asking to cover web3 concepts, here you go! These were outdated listens from the end of ā21 but will frame part of a long-form article Iām writing on the intersections of the fitness creator economy and web3.
Social Tokens for Creative Communities with Stephanie Pereira
Why now? Stephanie brings to life how current creators are subject to the whims of platforms they serve and how they should be focusing on creating value for themselves and their communities
Many-to-many community: communities can serve as a flywheel for business growth when they successfully enable many-to-many connections
Social Tokens & The Future of Content Creation
Current pain points: Hear more from Stephanie where she outlines current tool pain points and how itās driving content processes to lack intermediaries, and creators banding together.
For those that were interested in Genopets (edition 14), but had questions about it, this one is for you.
Fundraising mechanics of Web3 ventures: I believe that long term, tokens will be a highly valued new form of equity. If you believe that too, itās important to understand web3 companiesā structure and fundraising mechanics. Jay outlines that, very similar to SAFEs (simple agreement for future equity), there are SAFTs (simple agreement for future tokens). Similar to traditional VC, the tokens are locked up, have vesting schedules, etc.
Token distribution: Jay gives a great basic outline, and if youāre interested in vesting schedules, I recommend this piece.
Building Demand before pre-launch - helpful to hear how demand was built for their token by building social channels, aligning the vision and messaging to the community, and grassroots marketing.
#5š„ Spark Moment of the Week - scatter focus
Last week, I stumbled upon an article about how āsome of the world's most creative minds (Dali & Edison) used a sleep technique to bolster creativity.
Another friend (who makes music) shared how his best melodies come when heās drifting off to sleep, so he captures it with a voice memo hum to revisit in the AM.
It reinforced a learning moment Iād had 3 years ago around scatter focus:
Spark moment 1/3/19: Listening to a podcast with Chris Bailey, who wrote "Hyperfocus", and want to remember this amazing story.
"It was Edison who fell asleep with a hand full of marbles. So the idea was that when he fell asleep and his mind started wandering (bc sleep is the same regions of the brain activated during sleep as they do during "scatter focus", except they're activated with FURY when you're sleeping.
When you fall into this deep sleep, you lose control of your motor system. Edison would use this, and when he fell into this sleep, heād let the marbles go, wake up and capture whatever ideas were on his mind at the time. Salvador dali also used this strategy! Sometimes these ideas are so powerful that they wake us up but we're usually not aware of it. There's a time to be focused and a time to let your time wander so you can get these ideas.
I challenge you to take that 20-30 minute mid-day break this week, completely disconnect from your routine, and let your mind wander!
āØEndnote
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Have a creative week,
Adam
Senior Care trends for 2022 ~ Hospital care at home ā¤ļø
Ketone wearables >>>>