International expansion of UK one-stop digital health platform
The additional investment will enable OME to focus on “empowering health coaches to support more clients with significantly improved engagement levels”, says co-founder and CEO, Aidas Pranculis. This will lead to “superior health outcomes for people looking to improve their nutrition or achieve other health goals,” he maintains.
The novel platform launched in 2016 as a ‘direct to consumer product’ to encourage behavioural change and improve consumer health and wellbeing, however access was limited to experts employed by the company, until now.
As part of expansion plans, OME Health has extended access to third party health professionals who can benefit from automated workflow processes, holistic therapies, and biological testing services to manage and scale their business.
Pranculis comments: “Solutions that help people develop healthier habits can have huge benefits in many industries. For example, amateur athletes training for running disciplines or other fitness goals can have massive benefits from improved nutrition while at the same time people that have a healthier diet tend to get ill less often, stay more productive at work as well as have lower healthcare costs.”
Personalised programmes
OME programmes are customised to meet specific health targets, such as weight loss or improved heart health, and supervised by expert coaches (nutritionists, dietitians, and doctors) in real-time.
Coaches recommend suitable tests and use the platform's algorithms to automatically interpret generated multiomics (biological data) to deliver personalised nutrition, lifestyle recommendations and meal plans in real-time through dedicated consumer apps.
Pranculis says: “We use proprietary recommendation and prioritisation engines to analyse a large amount of biological and digital health data to produce interactive and personalised content including weekly goals, recipe-based meal ideas and others.”
He explains that practitioners have full control to change, add or remove content “as they see fit” and have access to a suite of telehealth tools (including file sharing, text chat, video calls) promote communication and boost engagement.
“Our underlying technology and IP can be utilised in many sectors, so we are continuously exploring ways to collaborate with companies, the strategic goal of which is to improve human health via informed and healthy lifestyle choices.”
Coaches can offer clients monthly subscriptions, sell consultations, and recommend products to earn a margin on sales.
One-stop-shop
Clients are assigned a dedicated expert and provide a swab to analyse gut microbiome in the context of personal diet and lifestyle.
Samples are processed in accredited laboratories using next generation sequencing (NGS) to examine host microbiome. Results are sent directly to client apps and include a Gut Diversity Score.
Blood samples measure lipid levels (triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL and LDL cholesterol) and evaluate micronutrient content (including vitamins B9, B12, D, and iron), while DNA tests use Polygenic Risk Scores (PRS) to analyse 1,100 genetic markers to identify risk factors associated with genetic phenotypes.
Each marker is fully explained in the results tab along with explanations on how they affect client health and recommended actions.
Live access to client data enables coaches to continually track dietary intake through a food log and questionnaire so they can provide regular feedback and nutritional advice. Physical activity and sleep patterns are also monitored using a fitness tracker.
Partner support
The integrated platform was funded by private and institutional investors as well as sports brand ASICS and the pharmaceutical giant Bayer.
The latest funding round includes Gen-tech Investment, while Bayer AG, ASICS, and other existing partners have renewed their financial commitment.
Pranculis adds: "With the backing of our new strategic investors and partners, OME Health is well positioned to become a best-in-class platform for health coaching."
