Found, a startup Focused on weight-care management, exits stealth today with total funding of $ 32 million and the announcement of the appointment of former Bumble COO, Sarah Jones Simmer, to the position of new general manager.

Find was incubated at Atomic, a San Francisco-based venture capital studio in spring 2020. Earlier this year, it raised $ 24 million in a Series A round led by GV (formerly Google Ventures) and Atomic, with participation from Define Ventures . And over the past year, he’s raised $ 8 million in previously unannounced seed funding, much of it from Atomic in addition to Define Ventures.

Jack Abraham, co-founder of Found and Atomic, said the startup was created to solve the “difficult” problem of weight care while integrating telehealth. (Abraham is also a co-founder of Him and Her, a telehealth service for wellness and care.)

“With over 70% of the population being overweight or obese and these numbers increasing at an alarming rate, we saw the need for a personalized, scientific approach to help curve the curve, ”said Abraham, who originally started Found with Atomic’s Emily Yudofsky.

And while there are point solutions for a specific drug or treatment, Abraham added, Found was launched with the goal of offering “a complete, personalized, precision-based solution to help anyone looking to lose. weight”.

By comprehensive, he means the startup relies on “dozens” of medications, supplements, diet, exercise and coaching programs to help its members achieve their personal weight and weight goals. health.

Since launching in 2020, Found has helped “tens of thousands” of members lose more than 200,000 pounds, according to co-founder and COO Swathy Prithivi, who had served as the company’s interim CEO before hiring. Jones Simmer earlier this month. It is currently available in 31 states at an average cost of $ 100 per month with a variety of plans.

“A big part of what spurred the creation of Found was that obesity is a disease, not a decision, and it’s time to modernize weight care so that obesity is treated as a disease. disease and not a decision, ”she told TechCrunch.

The story continues

Weight, Prithivi continued, is “deeply stigmatized” as a category.

“We’ve all been told to eat less and move more, and then we’re ashamed of our lack of willpower when we don’t see success,” she said, “but there is very little success in see when 50% of the US is on diet but only 5% lose weight, despite decades of research showing us that losing weight and keeping it off is more than just dieting and training.

Found, she said, aims to help people focus more on body positivity and what they can “find” – like being able to complete a 5K or follow their grandchildren or a new confidence. in them – during their weight management journey. And it does this by combining the advice of clinicians, a community of other people going through the same process, and “prescribing interventions” when deemed necessary. The company aims for a holistic, personalized and integrated approach that includes sleep, “mindful” eating, movement, stress and a person’s biology.

Jones Simmer comes to Found from Bumble, where she laid the groundwork for the entire initial public offering of this company. During this process, she was battling stage 3 breast cancer – drafting S-1 from a chemo chair and sending it to the board on the morning of her double mastectomy.

Moving to Found from a company she had worked at since its inception in a two-bedroom apartment was, in large part, a personal decision that stemmed from her experience battling cancer. She was also drawn to the company’s mission to tackle stigma around obesity and weight loss in the same way Bumble fought stigma around online dating.

“I went into remission very soon after the IPO, and after a pretty grueling year of treatment which I think was like, over 20 cycles of chemotherapy, multiple surgeries, and 37 cycles of radiation, ”said Jones Simmer. “It all really gets you thinking about how you want to spend your days and what is important to you. “

So despite her deep respect for Whitney Wolfe Herd, CEO and Founder of Bumble, and her love for the company and the team, Jones Simmer left Bumble earlier this year because she wanted to “take a bet” on it. -same.

“At one point in my battle with cancer, my doctor gave me a timeline that made me reconsider whether I had a life to meet my personal and professional goals,” she said. “My prognosis looks better now, but my perspective has changed permanently. “

Plus, she said, she was missing the build and wanted to go back to something from before.

“I wanted to have the chance to incorporate the lessons I learned at Bumble and really think about building something else that would have a similar opportunity to have an impact and that could touch people’s lives,” he said. Jones Simmer told TechCrunch.

Today, Found has 130 employees, including its management staff, and a large part of its capital will be devoted to expanding its workforce. The company also announced today that it has appointed Alexandre Linares as its new product manager. Linares was previously Vice President of Product at Headspace, where he oversaw product and application growth, which today serves approximately 70 million people.

GV partner Frederique Dame, who also invested in Pill Club and Kindbody, joined Found’s board of directors as part of Series A.

She said she supported Found because her mission resonated with her.

“Found takes a new approach to helping people lose weight, bringing the Weight Clinic model online with personalized, evidence-based coaching designed to improve patient outcomes,” Dame wrote by E-mail.

Also, Lady and Prithivi worked closely at Uber from 2012 to 2016.

“I have always admired his focus and dedication to operational excellence,” said Dame.

Found, she believes, is unique in two ways. On the one hand, the diversity of its toolbox. And second, his approach to stigma and his attempt to change the narrative around weight management.

“It’s the most integrated platform and the right fit for your needs,” Dame told TechCrunch. “And, Found makes access to care easy and convenient, while emphasizing body positivity and self-acceptance. “

The article has been updated after publication to reflect that Austin is not its headquarters. Found is actually the first remote, but its new CEO is based in Austin.