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Basis Science, the company behind Basis, a health tracker to improve fitness and sleep, announced it has raised a further $11.75 million in Series B funding, which now totals more than $23 million.
The Basis band, a smart, wearable device that monitors your heart rate, steps taken during the day and calories burned, is currently available for purchase and priced at $199. The software platform also allows users to dive deeper and explore even the smallest changes in physiological data such as heart rate, activity and sleep patterns over the day or week.
The round included investments from Intel Capital, iNovia Capital, Dolby Family Trust, Stanford University and Peninsula-KCG. Existing investors Mayfield Fund, DCM and Norwest Venture Partners, also participated.
“We now capture billions of heart beats each week and our users remain more engaged with our system versus other options in the category,” said Jef Holove, CEO of Basis, said in a statement. “With this new support, we’ll be able to continue to build on our strong foundation and offer a great experience for many more people looking to build healthy habits.”
According to IMS Research, the wearables market is poised to grow from 14 million devices shipped in 2011 to as many as 171 million units shipped by 2016. Sales of smart glasses, smart watches and wearable fitness trackers reached 8.3 million units worldwide in 2012, up from 3.1 million devices in the previous year, according to a recent research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight.
The report noted that while today, wearable fitness and activity trackers constitute the vast majority of the shipments, by the end of the forecast period, smart watches would incorporate much of the functionality of these and will then be the largest wearable device segment.
“Wearable computing enables a data-driven approach to managing health care and fitness,” Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital and Intel executive vice president, said in a statement. “By collecting heart rate, skin and ambient temperature data along with movement tracking, the Basis multi-sensor band opens up opportunities for data analytics driving deeper insights into health and personal behavior.”
Basis also announced the expansion of its product team with the hire of vice president of product, Ethan Fassett, a veteran in mobile and platform product strategy. Building on Basis’ biosensor approach to physiology and behavior change, Fassett and the team will continue to make the Basis system more intelligent through an enhanced understanding of user behavior patterns and intention, sensor-captured information and other data-based insights.