Skip to main content

Quit Genius raises $11M Series A to expand into opioid, alcohol addiction treatment


Quit Genius
QuitGenius, the YC-backed startup that uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help folks quit smoking and vaping tobacco products, has today announced the close of am $11 million Series A round.
The new funding was led by Octopus Ventures,  with participation from Y Combinator, Startup Health and Triple Point Ventures.
Quit Genius  was built by doctors — Yusuf Sherwani (co-founder and CEO), Maroof Ahmed (co-founder and COO), and Sarim Siddiqui (co-founder and head of product) — who met on the first day of medical school. They saw the terrible effects of smoking on patients’ health but didn’t see doctors giving those patients a clear path to quit smoking.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is seen as one of the more effective treatments for breaking addiction, helping patients focus on their thoughts, feelings and behaviors and understanding how one affects the others. The Quit Genius app helps users recognize when a negative thought or feeling pops up, and replace those triggering thoughts and emotions with more positive, healthier thoughts. This is done through various types of content, such as audio sessions, animated videos and interactive exercises.
The company also offers a device that can pair with the app to test users’ breath and help hold them accountable to their goal of quitting.
Quit Genius has already made headway with its smoking and vaping products, and is going to use the funding to expand into other types of addiction, such as alcohol and opioid addiction.
Alongside its consumer-facing product, Quit Genius also offers an enterprise product to businesses who are looking to foster a healthy workforce and also save money on healthcare for employees. Unlike most enterprise wellness programs that charge per person per year (regardless of utilization or engagement), Quit Genius only charges by engagement (employees who use the program) and offers a 25 percent quit rate guarantee.
In other words, if 25 percent of enrolled users don’t achieve their goal of quitting, Quit Genius will partially refund fees. Thus far, the company hasn’t had to do that, reports CEO Sherwani.
Sherwani added that the company has signed up 15 enterprise clients, split between self-insured employers and health plan providers.
Beyond the funding and expansion into other forms of addiction, Quit Genius is also trying to do its own part as the novel Coronavirus pandemic spreads across the globe. Noting the high risk status of smokers, Sherwani said that the company will offer its product for free to new sign ups through April so that they can quit smoking immediately.
Founded by doctors, Quit Genius prioritizes efficacy. The company has enlisted independent research studies to show the success rate of its product, the results of which have been published in peer-reviewed journals. According to that research, more than 60K people have quit smoking, with a 53 percent quit rate, which is higher than other quit-smoking techniques.
The startup has raised a total of $13.6 million from investors listed above, as well as Eric Ries, Serena Williams’ Serena Ventures, Venus Williams, and Instacart cofounder Max Mullen.

Comments

aspirecounselingservicesantaclarita said…
This information is useful for Addiction treatment in Santa Clarita, CA to us. You have shared such an useful article. I get an information by your blog.
21 November 2021 at 21:24
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Coronavirus: 'The worst bit is the uncontrollable coughing'

"The worst bit is the uncontrollable coughing," says Andrew O'Dwyer, who is recovering after being infected with the new coronavirus following a skiing trip to Italy in late February. "I've had worse flu, without a doubt - but I wouldn't want to catch it again," he says during his self-isolation at home in south-west London. Despite having type 1 diabetes, Andrew says having the virus "isn't anything to worry about for me personally". He adds that the fever he experienced is "no different to normal flu-type symptoms". "I've not been concerned," he says. The severity of symptoms can vary widely among people. Those who are older and have pre-existing medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease) are more likely to become severely ill and can need hospital treatment. There have been 10 coronavirus-related deaths so far in the UK. Andrew was told the virus wasn't circulating in the resort ...
Post a Comment
Read more

THE MASCARENE PARROT

The Mascarene parrot was 35 cm (14 in) in length with a large red bill and long, rounded tail feathers. Its legs were red, and it had naked red skin around the eyes and nostrils. It had a black facial mask and partially white tail feathers, but the colouration of the body, wings and head is unclear. Descriptions from life indicate the body and head were ash grey, and the white part of the tail had two dark central feathers. In contrast, descriptions based on stuffed specimens state that the body was brown and the head bluish but do not mention the dark central tail feathers. This may be due to the specimens having changed colour as a result of aging and exposure to light, as well as other forms of damage. Very little is known about the bird in life. The Mascarene parrot was first mentioned in 1674, and live specimens were later brought to Europe, where they lived in captivity . The species was scientifically described in 1771. Only two stuffed specimens exist today, in Paris and Vienn...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cryptic-polific investment have been an investment platform where you make money online

I will teach how to earn money from your comfort zone. With a trusted PHP mining company. You can start with a minimum of 20$and earn a huge amount after 12h ours of your mining duration period of time. Join now and earn massively: https://www.google.com/search?q=site:crypto-polific.com
2 comments
Read more