BetterYou, a St. Paul startup that's developed a digital coaching app, has secured $6 million in a round of financing led by Wisconsin-based Capital Midwest.
Founded in 2018, BetterYou partners with employers, health insurers and higher education organizations to help their members spend less time on their phones and more time achieving their goals.
RELATED: This smartphone app wants you to put down the smartphone
Capital Midwest Fund Junior Partner Jacob DeZarn said in a statement that the firm is excited to help BetterYou bring “life back to equilibrium by understanding how we spend time on our devices and providing strategic nudges to improve our daily lives.”
So far, BetterYou has partnered with several companies and universities across the country. It is available for employees and students within organizations including H&R Block, Amway, Allina Health, Michigan State University and Cleveland State University. (It's not yet available for individual users.)
With the funding, CEO and co-founder Sean Higgins says the company will be able to focus on a new stage of growth, add more employees and invest in marketing.
The company currently has 25 employees, up 40% in the past year, and Higgins said the company's main challenge is finding good candidates to hire. BetterYou is currently looking for professionals in sales, marketing and software development.
Capital Midwest’s investment will also help refine the mobile app user experience with product improvements like goal reminders for sleep and physical exercise, reading and spending time with loved ones.
BetterYou has also attracted funding from Mairs & Power, Great North Ventures, North Coast Ventures and NelNet.
“For too long the attention economy has been a race to the bottom by creating more distraction and more division,” said Higgins in a statement. “We are starting the race to the top. The most valuable companies aren't the ones who rob me of my time but rather the companies that give me time back in my day.”
