Featured Startup Pitch: Suggestic – Personalized lifestyle app for type 2 diabetes reversal

COMPANY: Suggestic

ELEVATOR PITCH

Type 2 diabetes reversal using artificial intelligence (AI).

PRODUCT/SERVICE DESCRIPTION

Suggestic is a digital help startup trying to tackle type 2 diabetes using machine learning to create personalized interventions and guide users through them towards disease reversal.

Our Lifestyle GPS app works as a personal assistant to help people with diabetes navigate towards a healthier lifestyle. Whether the user needs suggestions on where and what to eat, snack, or cook, or have questions about physical activity, Suggestic is always present to answer those questions and guide the person to make small habit changing choices, one decision at a time.

Based on principles of precision medicine, we have developed a multi-layer personalization system that we apply on top of existing evidence-based lifestyle interventions. Following this system allows for different levels of customization according to different levels of data availability.

Our initial focus is the more than 30 million persons in the U.S. who are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Our senior team is comprised of serial entrepreneurs with exits whose experience includes applied AI, security, financial services, consumer products and health technology.

DIFFERENTIATORS VS. THE COMPETITION

There are a number of companies trying to help people with type 2 diabetes–from huge corporate organizations to well-funded successful startups, to small independent app developers. However, their approach is mostly the same: Help better manage type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes by providing the same old tools in nicer packages–better acting medication, e-learning and interactive content, traditional coaching programs delivered digitally, connected glucometers, and better performing apps. All of those are great and much needed. Moreover, they represent a foundation for the real changes of the future. Nonetheless, these solutions are only the starting point, because for a problem that will soon affect a billion people we need to think radically different.

Suggestic tackles two major problems in a radically different way. Problem 1: We are all different, and we need to account for those differences when designing a lifestyle program. Problem 2: Changing your lifestyle is hard and we all need help navigating that process.

We solve those difficulties by using artificial intelligence technology that allows us to create personalized plans that not only consider the person’s biological makeup, but also personal preferences and behavior. Subsequently, we deliver those programs in an actionable form, at the right place and in the right time.

FOUNDERS’ STORY

We are a passionate team of 10 entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers and designers from five nationalities which speak seven languages and work from two different countries.

Victor Chapela, CEO and co-founder: Ex pre-diabetic. Entrepreneur with expertise in AI, machine learning, risk modeling and information security. Founded six technology companies. Last company, Sm4rt Predictive (AI for credit card fraud prevention), sold to a bank consortium led by Citibank.

Shai Rosen, CMO and co-founder: Biotechnology drop out turned engineer. Growth hacker and product builder.

Mitch Shapiro, COO and co-founder: Serial entrepreneur, previously co-founder of Nexxo Financial, acquired by MoneyGram.

BUSINESS MODEL

Freemium subscription. 

HEADQUARTERS: San Francisco

WEBSITE: suggestic.com

YEAR FOUNDED: 2014

TWITTER: @suggestic

FACEBOOK: facebook.com/suggestic

LINKEDIN: linkedin.com/company/suggestic