Press Release: Wellness Company Noom Raises $58 Million, Led by Sequoia Capital to Grow Its Team and Improve Its Consumer Offering
NEW YORK, May 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Noom, the mobile wellness company, has completed a $58 million financing, led by Sequoia Capital. Groupe Arnault’s tech arm Aglaé Ventures, Jan Koum, co-founder of WhatsApp, Tony Xu, co-founder of DoorDash, Josh Kushner, co-founder of Oscar Health, Scooter Braun, founder of SB Projects, and existing investor Samsung Ventures have also joined the round.
Noom’s clinically-proven behavior change programs combine human coaches with personalized content to help people achieve their wellness goals. Users complete a questionnaire, download the Noom app and are paired with a dedicated health coach and customized content that dynamically evolves based on their needs. Rather than relying on strict rules and fad diets that are difficult to maintain, Noom’s program seeks to understand individual motivations and obstacles to best guide users toward sustainable behavior change.
As Noom enters its next stage of growth, the company will use funds from this round to expand the team and improve the customer experience. “We were able to achieve so much with just 55 people in our New York City headquarters and our community of wonderful coaches,” said Saeju Jeong, CEO and co-founder of Noom. “This influx of capital will help us hire more Noomers — passionate people who want to use their business and technical skills to make personalized coaching accessible to everyone in the world.”
Co-founder and President of Product and Engineering Artem Petakov added: “We have more product ideas to serve and delight our community than we have product managers, designers and engineers to build them right now, and we’re excited to close that gap. It is our mission to use technology to help people live healthier lives — and these folks will help us do it.”
Jan Koum said he believes Noom is well positioned to transform the wellness sector. “Noom has many of the same traits that helped WhatsApp disrupt the communications industry,” said Koum. “Noom is so far ahead of the competition when it comes to technology, execution and brand recognition that it will be difficult for any company to catch up.”
“Noom is by far one of the fastest growing companies that we are in business with globally. Sequoia is thrilled to partner with the Noom team as they help people achieve healthier lives,” said Michael Abramson, partner at Sequoia and Noom board member.
