Vivante Health Closes $5.8 Million Series A1 Investments

HOUSTON, Jan. 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Vivante Health, the leader in digital medicine for gut health and disease, announced completion of its Series A1 investments this week after closing with healthcare investor Lifeforce Capital and tech-focused European investment firm, Big Pi Ventures, based in Athens. NFP Ventures, FCA Venture Partners, and Longmont Capital also participated in the round.

Vivante will leverage the $5.8 million Series A1 funds to accelerate its bold efforts to provide relief to thousands of Americans who struggle with chronic GI symptoms, using a first-of-its kind digital health solution called GIThrive.

GIThrive is a comprehensive digital health program for digestive health and disease. Features include an at-home microbiome test kit to highlight bacterial imbalance in the gut, a personal digestion monitor to identify food sensitivities with a simple breath test, therapeutic nutrition, and 24/7 on-demand support from a team of gut health experts via the GIThrive app.

"We knew we were onto something when the market responded so positively," said Dr. Kimon Angelides, Vivante Health founder and CEO, "but support from esteemed, experienced and successful firms like Lifeforce and Big Pi, and the continued strong support from our initial investor partners, give us a very encouraging boost of confidence as we carry out our vision and further develop the GIThrive platform."

Lifeforce Capital focuses exclusively on software-driven innovation in healthcare. Its portfolio includes Aspire, Cricket Health, Notable Labs, One Medical, and Second Genome, among others. "We were immediately struck by Kim's entrepreneurial passion and big vision," said Sander Duncan, General Partner with Lifeforce Capital. "We are thrilled to work with the Vivante team to build the first platform tackling digestive disease for millions of suffering patients."

Big Pi Ventures is based in Athens, Greece, where the majority of Vivante's tech team is headquartered. An American of Greek descent who spends much of his time in Athens, Dr. Angelides recognized an opportunity to not only help develop the young, highly educated workforce in Greece when building his latest company, but also to invest in a community that's dear to his heart. "This partnership with Big Pi, a tech-based investment firm who's driven by the desire to support Greek talent, makes perfect sense. What's more, we have partnered with a team who themselves have been very successful entrepreneurs," said Angelides.

"We are very excited to be joining the Vivante team and truly inspired by their vision to transform the management of chronic conditions," said Marco Veremis, investment partner with Big Pi. "Kimon's amazing track record as one of the most effective serial disruptors of the healthcare market is complemented by a brilliant team across the US and Greece. This is one of those rare investments where the financial upside goes hand in hand with the prospect of radically improving the lives of millions of people across the globe."

Kimon Angelides is the founder of three other healthcare companies, including digital diabetes company EosHealth (which became Livongo). With offices in Houston, Nashville, Chicago, and Athens, Vivante Health's global team of experts came together to build the GIThrive platform.  

About Vivante Health

Vivante Health is an innovative digital healthcare company reinventing the way chronic conditions are managed, gut first. Our all-in-one digestive health program, GIThrive, empowers people—through brilliant technology, advanced science, and on-demand human support—to improve digestive health, while lowering their cost of care. To learn how employers and health plans are saving money with GIThrive, visit vivantehealth.com or email info@vivantehealth.com.

About Lifeforce Capital

Lifeforce Capital is a venture capital firm investing in healthcare's most impactful software-driven companies. We partner with teams materially improving care delivery at scale or enabling dramatically more efficient therapeutic development through computational biology. We build close relationships with exceptional founding teams and provide sustained support as companies scale, bringing to bear our deep healthcare investment, policy, clinical and operational experience. For more information, visit lifeforcecap.com or email info@lifeforcecap.com. 

About Big Pi

We are a diverse team with a proven track record in identifying and fostering market-ready technologies, which can support founders all the way from product design to scaling up for the global market. For more information, visit https://bigpi.vc/.