July continued the upward surge in tech fundings, and just a few hours into August, it appears that trend is set to continue. This morning, two local tech startups announced rounds of funding that add up to $13.8 million.
Ritual, a West Hollywood-based e-commerce/health tech startup, closed a $10.5 million Series A today. The company, a subscription vitamin service for women, plans to use the funding to scale its team, further develop in-house technology and support the in-house team of scientists developing the product.
Less than a year old, the funding comes on the heels of Ritual's rapid trajectory over the past 10 months. According to the startup, 25 percent of Ritual customers reported having never having regularly taken vitamins before they started with Ritual's Essential for Women multivitamin. Additionally, 70 percent said that they're better about taking their vitamins since starting their Ritual subscriptions, which cost $30 a month for 60 capsules.
The round was led by Founders Fund with returning investors Forerunner Ventures, Norwest, and Upfront Ventures.
“We’re beyond excited to be going deeper with our existing investors Founders Fund, Forerunner and Norwest as we enter this next phase of the company and will continue to expand what it means to be a ‘habit company,’” said Founder and CEO Katerina Schneider. “We’ve partnered with investors that continue to believe in our ability to build the foundation of a brand with an unparalleled customer experience from which we’re able to inspire customers to implement healthy daily habits.”
Not all health tech startups are designed to help out humans. Santa Monica-based Vetted, for instance, offers on-demand, in-home veterinary services for pets. Today, the company announced the close of a $3.3 million first institutional round of funding.
Currently available to users in a number of neighborhoods in LA, the company plans to use the capital to expand its service to new regions, recruit highly trained vets and launch additional solutions for pets and their humans.
Vetted was co-founded by health tech veteran Karan Aneja, who co-founded Portea Medical, Southeast Asia's largest home healthcare company, after his dog Gobi got sick, and the ailing pupper's regular vet had closed for the evening. Aneja spent hours waiting to see a veterinarian at a chain store before being presented with a $680 bill and the news that Gobi only had indigestion.
"We’re providing a personalized experience for pets, in the comfort of their own homes, in way less time and with less stress than the other options available on the market right now,” said Aneja's co-founder, Ali Shahid, in a statement. “To the pets, the vet is just another house guest. Most of the time, they don’t even realize they’ve been examined at all. Plus, by removing infrastructure costs and bringing the full suite of veterinarian services straight to people’s homes, we’ve been able to cut the price of overall care by 50 percent.”
The round of funding was led by Foundation Capital, with participation from Amplify LA.
Images via social media and Shutterstock.
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