Holi, a fully digital metabolic health clinic that is the first to offer a holistic approach to treating obesity and overweight, has successfully raised a 680k pre-seed round. It was led by a German fund specializing in the HealthTech sector, YZR Capital. The Berlin-based HEARTFELT_ also joined the round, along with business angels including Damian Zapłata (CEO of Modivo and former Allegro board member) and Robert Bogucki (Co-founder of deepsense.ai and Codilime).
The Polish company, founded in early 2023 by Pawel Seweryn, formerly CEO of Daftcode, and Mikolaj Szymanski, founder of the KERRIS group, started with a holistic health program aimed at treating obesity. In collaboration with experienced nutritionists, scientists and a dedicated medical board overseeing the methodology, Holi stands out not only as a technology startup but also as a registered medical entity. The clinic’s goal is to provide a holistic approach to improve its patients’ metabolic health––the overall metabolic state of an individual, which includes various physiological processes that regulate the body’s production, storage and consumption of energy. Metabolic diseases include obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease, among others.
“Prevention is the medicine of the future. We are building a scalable solution thanks to our specialization in chronic metabolic disease, which increases the risk of premature death from 20 up to 100%. We connect diet, medicine and lifestyle, focusing on aspects such as changing eating habits, regulating sleep, daily physical activity and drug treatment precisely tailored to the patient. We fuel the business with technology, health biomarker analytics and proprietary methodology created by leading Polish doctors,” commented Paweł Seweryn, Co-founder of Holi.
With the funding obtained, Holi will continue its mission of enabling a holistic approach to metabolic health through the development of its offerings, market expansion and the construction of its own technology.
“It is estimated that more than 200 million adults suffer from chronic metabolic diseases in the European Union alone. These are frightening figures, but observing the growing trend of healthy living, we firmly believe that awareness of metabolic health will increase significantly in the near future. Holi contributes to this,” said Henric Hungerhoff, General Partner at HEARTFELT_. “Thanks to Holi’s specialization, I see a very large room for scaling the business adhering to the tech-enabled clinic approach, which was an important element for us when deciding to invest,” Hungerhoff adds.
Holi’s methodology involves cutting-edge therapies that change the approach to treating obesity through an individualized plan to change eating habits by achieving specific goals set jointly between the patient and their nutritionist and practitioner. The health programs offered by the clinic involve moving away from strict menus and workout plans, offering a shift to the small goals method. They also offer the opportunity to incorporate the latest pharmacological treatments, such as GLP-1 analogs (Saxenda, Wegovy), under the care of specialists.
“The European market lacks companies that focus on changing individual patients’ habits to improve metabolic health, which may potentially include the safe implementation of GLP-1 agonists as one of the many pieces of the puzzle. The Holi methodology is exceptional in this regard,” added Markus Feuerecker, Founding Partner at YZR Capital. ”When I first met Pawel and Mikolaj, they impressed me with their vision and enthusiasm. They have proven over the past years that they are capable of successfully executing their business ventures, so we are excited to support them on their mission to change the metabolic health market.”
