Personal motivator and coach Tony Robbins co-authored the book Lifeforce, which was published last year. He had sought out placenta-derived stem cell therapy and other regenerative medicine techniques after dealing with issues in his shoulder and spine. He was so impressed with the power and potential of regenerative medicine that he interviewed more than 150 doctors, scientists, Nobel Laureates and researchers on the future of health care and published their thoughts and findings in language anyone could understand.
Now he's one of the driving forces of a startup with the same name. He's a co-founder of Lifeforce, which was created and incubated by M13's Launchpad incubator. M13 is an L.A. VC firm with a track record of building companies in the health and wellness realms, including Kindra, a digital health platform serving women in the menopausal stages; Bodewell, for those experiencing chronic skin conditions; and Opte, which created a skincare device that works on hyperpigmentation.
The goal of Lifeforce, spawned by the incubator in 2021, is to optimize members’ health and increase their life spans. Lifeforce has two separate revenue streams. One is a membership program that includes comprehensive diagnostic testing that yields a personal health plan. The other is selling health and vitality products.
The company recently raised a $12 million Series A round co-led by M13 and Peterson Ventures.
Foundation
M13, which has raised more than $684 million across four funds, introduced Tony Robbins to Dugal Bain-Kim and Joel Jackson, two of Lifeforce's other founders.
"When I met Tony, I was inspired by his life story, knowing that he was living proof around the power of proactive health care," Bain-Kim told L.A. Inno. "I was excited to partner with Tony because I knew that he would enable us to get our message out to an extremely large group of health-motivated individuals."
Prior to co-founding Lifeforce, Bain-Kim worked at several companies, including serving as VP of product strategy for investment manager BlackRock. He also held several positions at Included Health, which provides virtual health care.
Jackson is a software engineer who has served as the CTO for Upgrade Labs and was a co-founder of ELM Foods, both based in L.A.
Two other co-founders are Courtney Reum, who's also a co-founder of M13, and Peter Diamandis, a doctor who co-authored the Lifeforce book. He's also the chairman and CEO of the X Prize Foundation, as well as the co-founder and vice chairman of Human Longevity.
Tennis star Serena Williams is an investor in Lifeforce.
How It Works
Lifeforce targets those in their 30s, 40s and 50s. Members receive diagnostic blood test kits and then make an appointment with a registered phlebotomist, who draws their blood at home and sends their sample to a lab for analysis.
The analysis measures 40-plus biomarkers that Lifeforce has identified as being indicative of physical, cognitive, sexual and psychological performance.
Then personal health plans are created by medical doctors, which include lifestyle adjustments and nutraceuticals, as well as hormone and peptide therapies, all of which are manufactured by Lifeforce. Members also get direct access to specialized clinicians and health coaches.
“(Our users) may be super health conscious, but...they have realized incremental changes to their energy, sleep quality, weight management, or lack of focus that they are hoping to address,” Dugal Bain-Kim, co-founder and CEO of Lifeforce, told L.A. Inno. “Although many bodily changes happen in these age ranges, Lifeforce is for anyone looking to take a more proactive role in their health, and understand their body.”
A Lifeforce membership starts at $349 for an initial assessment. Members are then charged $129 monthly.
Members are re-tested every three months.
The company plans to use the recent Series A funds to build “the largest set of interventional biomarker data in the world,” Bain-Kim said.
He’s banking on that data enabling the company to create an automated recommendation engine that could potentially reduce the membership cost, he added.
Lifeforce’s headquarters is in Santa Monica. It has 48 employees in total, spread out across the country. The total number of employees has grown 200% this year, Bain-Kim said.
