Mobile health monitoring company BodyMedia, which makes an armband that captures health data from users, has raised $2.7 million of an anticipated $10 million round.
The funding for Pittsurgh-based BodyMedia comes from four investors, with the first sale occurring on March 13, according to a regulatory document.
When worn all day, BodyMedia’s FIT armbands measure a person’s steps taken, sleep patterns and calorie output, and then recommends activity and dietary adjustments to the user based on that data.
In addition to the armbands, the FIT system includes an online activity manager and free apps for mobile device users.
Earlier this month, BodyMedia announced that astronauts on the International Space Station would be wearing FIT armbands to monitor their physical activity as part of an experiment to determine astronauts’ energy needs during long-term space flights.
BodyMedia has garnered lots of press in recent months and signed a promotional deal with fitness expert Jillian Michaels, who appeared at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this year to endorse the FIT system.
Chief financial officer Paul Quinn didn’t return a call.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
