Digital-health startup Pops! Diabetes Care has closed on a $6 million round of Series A funding from a group of investors that includes Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, according to a release.
Oak Park Heights-based Pops aims to make it easier for people with diabetes to monitor their glucose levels and better manage their health. Users can quickly check their levels, and view and track results using an app. The system received FDA clearance in late 2018.
Pops generates revenue through a subscription model. Companies pay a monthly fee to give their employees access to Pops' system. The startup manages distribution of the product and provides support.
Madison, Wis.-based 30Ventures led the $6 million round of funding. As part of the deal, Managing Partner George Arida will join the Pops board. Flying Point Industries from New York also invested along with the Rise of the Rest Seed Fund.
Rise of the Rest is part of Revolution, a Washington, D.C.-based investment firm founded by AOL Co-Founder Steve Case focused on backing high-growth startups in the middle of the U.S.
"We're proud to back the Pops team in their important mission of empowering people to better manage their chronic healthcare needs in a way that combines elegant hardware with intelligent software," Mary Grove, a Rise of the Rest partner based in the Twin Cities, said in a statement. "Co-founder Lonny Stormo is an industry veteran who brings world-class expertise and has assembled a fantastic team."
Pops will use the new round of capital to further fund commercialization of its FDA-approved Pops-one System, which commercially launched earlier this year. Prior to this, the company had raised about $5 million, mostly from angel investors, after its launch in 2010.
"Our quickly growing customer base demonstrates that our message of disrupting the traditional diabetes management space with a virtual care approach is resonating," said Pops CEO Lonny Stormo in a release. "We are pleased that investors see this commercial growth as a sign that diabetes virtual care is making a difference for people with diabetes."
