Limbo tones up with $6 million to boost digital weight loss platform

As obesity shifts from a regional issue to a worldwide epidemic, new approaches and technologies are needed to avert the terrible costs that come with it — both human and financial.

Recently, Kollektiv raised €1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round to get us all back in shape. And now London-based digital weight loss and body transformation service Limbo has raised $6 million in funding to coach users into healthier habits.

The round was led by Hoxton Ventures alongside backers including Shaquille O’Neal, Seedcamp, Apple executive Rory Sexton, rugby player Jamie Heaslip, and co-founders of companies such as Intercom, PCH International, Yelp, Voxpro, and Web Summit.

With the new funding in place, Limbo is opening its service wider in Ireland and the U.K.

Limbo uses real-time biodata from wearables, an app, and both human and AI coaching to create an individualised approach to lose weight and transform users’ health. According to the company, Limbo has been running private early access to the service and has seen members rapidly transform their bodies and dramatically improve their health by nudging them into better dietary, sleep, and exercise habits – resulting in an average of 12% reduction in body weight within three months.

Rurik Bradbury, co-founder and CEO of Limbo, said: “We now have clear data that people who follow the Limbo programme of blood glucose and biometrics management can expect to lose 12% of their body weight in a three-month programme. With this funding, we can offer the service to far more people, allowing them to lose weight and gain energy with an ease they never imagined possible, and moving us closer to our goal of ending the global obesity crisis.”

Pat Phelan, co-founder and chairman of Limbo, added: “We finally have a simple way out of the obesity trap. Now we are ready to empower people around the world to take control of their health and weight with an ease and effectiveness they never imagined possible.”

Rob Kniaz, partner at Hoxton Ventures, added: “We believe in placing large and early bets on transformative companies with the potential to improve millions of lives. Limbo is a true innovation in an area where it’s badly needed and the results the company has demonstrated so far for users are nothing short of incredible.”