ALLVP made an undisclosed investment in SocialDiabetes, a Barcelona-based health-tech platform for diabetes patient care.

(Press Release) ALLVP is thrilled to announce its latest investment in SocialDiabetes – Barcelona-based digital health solution dedicated to transform type 1 and type 2 diabetes patient care. Founded by María Salido and Victor Bautista, the company has built advanced algorithms with strong clinical accuracy to improve the life of patients suffering from diabetes, while generating valuable insights for healthcare professionals.

SocialDiabetes has been recognized with multiple awards in Europe as an innovative and effective approach to diabetes management as well as the leading device-agnostic app for Spanish speaking patients in the world, allowing automatic integration with glucometers from multiple providers.

Holding strong as the #1 diabetes management app in iOs and Android app stores in Spain and Mexico with +260,000 downloads to date, SocialDiabetes is now empowering over thousands of diabetics across Europe and Latin America. The company embraces the patients’ shift towards an increasingly active and self-controlled attitude, by allowing them to capture devices’ data, adjust insulin dose and get customized notifications.

The company recently obtained the highest score in impact, excellence, quality and efficiency of implementation by the European Commission through its Horizon 2020 program[1], and launched an exclusive pilot with the National Health Service (NHS) in England and Scotland to pioneer and evaluate opportunities within the Internet of Things (IoT), using remote monitoring and coaching technology for better self-management[2]. Certified by ISO 13485:2016 standard for medical devices, SociaDiabetes Insulin Calculator is also in the process of updating the CE regulatory approval to Class IIB. To increase its reach, the company accomplished high profile collaborations with industry leaders in the medical device, insurance and telecom sectors, including an alliance with global reinsurer MunichRE, an integration with glucometer manufacturer Abbott[3] and more recently, a key partnership with Vodafone[4] to promote the digital monitoring of the disease.
Once patients enroll, care givers can access their data and remotely track their progress via a real-time dashboard tool; and by using the SocialDiabetes platform, physicians, healthcare organizations and insurance companies can increase focus and monitoring of at-risk patients, while achieving higher levels of adherence to treatment plans.

“By partnering with María Salido and her team, ALLVP is not only increasing its exposure to the digital health space but tackling one of the biggest health issues of our times” explains Fernando Lelo de Larrea, partner at ALLVP. “We expect the health tech sector in Latin America to grow exponentially in the next few years and believe María and Victor are the ideal leaders to leverage this opportunity.”

Diabetes is the fastest growing health challenge facing the world, affecting over 420 million people today, almost four times more than in 1980[5]. In Mexico alone, the prevalence of diabetes is the highest among OECD countries, with 15.8% of adults affected[6], among which ~30% are yet to be diagnosed given the absence of symptoms. As with any chronic condition, inattentive management and inconsistent follow-up care increase the risk of urgent interventions and can result in costly and lethal complications, including blindness, kidney failure or heart attacks.

“Identifying patients most at risk and understanding the clinical and behavioural characteristics associated with them, can help frontline care teams provide personalized management while reducing costs”, details María Salido. “Adding ALLVP’s deep healthcare expertise in Latin America, will allow SocialDiabetes to develop and establish tight alliances with the relevant players in the industry.”

About ALLVP  ALLVP – Antoni & Lelo de Larrea Venture Partners – founded by Federico Antoni and Fernando Lelo de Larrea in 2012, is one of the most active Series A fund in the venture capital industry in Latin America. Across two portfolios, the fund has invested in twenty-five highly innovative and successful companies throughout the region such as Cornershop, the fastest growing on-demand grocery platform in Latin America, weex, the revolutionary mobile virtual network operator and wallet, where users create their own micro-plans from a selection of talk/text/data bundles, and Dentalia, Mexico’s largest network of dental clinics. ALLVP is a member of the Latin-American Venture Capital Association (LAVCA), the Mexican Private Equity Association (AMEXCAP) and Endeavor Investor Network.

[1] https://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/211342_en.html

[2] The Scottish government has chosen SocialDiabetes

[3] Anuncian la conexión de SocialDiabetes con Abbott Freestyle©

^[4] SocialDiabetes and Vodafone join forces to promote the digital management of diabetes

[5] IDF Diabetes Atlas 2017, International Diabetes Federation

[6] Health at a Glance 2017: OECD Indicators, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development