Edmonton-based healthtech startup aims to reduce disease through preventative health testing.
Edmonton-based healthtech startup NiaHealth has left stealth mode and revealed that it raised $2.5 million CAD in pre-seed funding led by Version One Ventures.
Investor Boris Wertz claimed that 90 percent of NiaHealth’s early users found health risks they could act on.
The company secured the round in late 2023, but hadn’t disclosed this until its public debut. Co-founder and CEO Sameer Dhar’s ScaleGood Fund also participated in the round alongside Garage Ventures and Union Capital. Individual round contributors include Wattpad co-founder Ivan Yuen as well as two investors in Dhar’s previous startup, DJI Capital President Blaine LaBonte and Boston Consulting Group Senior Advisor Mike Bernstein.
The company hopes to prevent disease and other medical conditions by streamlining tests. Annual plans for its just-launched beta program start at $299 CAD and include at least 35 tests for biomarkers like heart cholesterol levels, blood platelet counts, and metabolism. A full selection of tests for hormone levels and other characteristics starts at $599 CAD, with add-on test packages and a $1,299 CAD “Optimum” plan for people who want concierge services and quarterly health coaching.
Once customers have their tests, NiaHealth uses a combination of AI insights, diagnostics, and one-on-one clinician consultations to give subscribers action plans for changing their lifestyles. The company says it conducted over 100,000 tests while in stealth. Venture One founding partner Boris Wertz claimed in a blog post that 90 percent of these early users found health risks they could act on, such as pre-diabetes status or reduced kidney function.
Dhar previously co-founded senior care firm Sensassure and was a managing director at hygiene brand Essity. He had been developing the concept behind NiaHealth for “nearly six years” after selling Sensassure, a spokesperson told BetaKit. As Wertz explained, Dhar came up with the idea after claiming to cut his own diabetes risk by 300 percent through preventative tests.
The beta service is currently available in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Ontario, but NiaHealth intends to expand both in Canada and abroad. The company also has a “suite of new features” to tailor the experience that will be released by the end of 2025, Wertz said. NiaHealth’s spokesperson couldn’t reveal details of what those features were, but said they would be “live soon” and would come first to current users.
Venture One backed NiaHealth as it began “with a mission, not a flashy idea,” Wertz said in his post. He also characterized the company as complementing Canada’s public healthcare system rather than replacing it, noting that family doctors concentrate on diagnosing and treating existing diseases, while NiaHealth wants to “prevent disease entirely.”
Feature image courtesy Trust “Tru” Katsande on Unsplash.
