Cara Care raised $7 million to fuel expansion

Cara Care was founded by Jesaja Brinkmann and Andre Sommer.

Cara Care, a gastrointestinal-focused digital therapeutic business, has secured $7 million in a Series A Extension round. The Berlin-based startup intends to extend its IBS app and enter the US and other European markets.

Dr. Schar AG is a family-owned multinational nutrition and food firm that manufactures solutions for celiac disease and chronic renal disease patients. He led the round, which also included current investors Sabadell Asabys and Johnson & Johnson. Cara Care has so far raised $16 million.

Jim Mapes was also named CEO. Mapes has worked as an executive at numerous healthcare companies in the United States, including Centauri Health Solutions, UnitedHealth Group’s Optum subsidiary, and Anthem, the health insurance firm. The managing directors will be Jesaja, 30, and Andre Sommer (34), who co-founded the company in 2016. Brinkmann was included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Healthcare and Science List in 2021.

Dr. Schar AG CEO Philipp Schoeller remarked that the Dr. Schar family has worked for over 100 years to help people with unique dietary needs enjoy better lives. We’ve identified a partner in Cara Care that can help us make our quest a success by utilizing cutting-edge technology. We are thrilled to be working with the team, and Jim Mapes is a wonderful addition to the management team.

Patients who sign up for Cara Care will receive a personalized program that is tailored to their unique requirements. Coaching, nutritional, mental, and exercise therapies are all included.

According to Brinkmann, the app has nearly 1 million users. It is used to treat a variety of ailments, including acid reflux and irritable bowel syndrome. According to him, the majority of customers are found organically via Google and the Apple app store, where Cara Care has a rating of 4.8 stars. “We have been on the market for quite some time now, roughly six years,” Brinkmann adds, “and we have created an excellent name.”

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Patients might also be recommended to use the app by healthcare providers. German health insurance will cover the 12-week Cara Care program. According to Brinkmann, one of our guiding principles is to focus on the fundamentals of evidence-based medicine. This implies that we are always assessing the efficacy of the solutions and treatments we offer to our patients.

Cara Care will be able to grow into additional European nations and improve the marketing of its app. It will also be able to expand its firm presence by adding staff in the United States.

“There is a chance to develop something in digital healthcare, to empower individuals suffering from digestive issues, to educate them through all of the possibilities, and ultimately to make them healthy,” Sommer adds. According to Sommer, this is ultimately our company’s mission.

The therapy was recently approved as the first reimbursable prescription digital therapeutic in the gastrointestinal sector by the German federal health authority. With the fresh funding, the Cara Care app’s commercialization will be hastened in Germany and the United States before extending into France and other European markets. The team also intends to expand its line of digital therapies beyond gastrointestinal health.

Along with the fundraising release, Cara Care has named James “Jim” Mapes as its new CEO. He will join founders Jesaja Brinkmann and Dr. Andre Sommer, as well as Chief Operating Officer Felix Köhler, in growing the Cara Care platform.

“With Jim’s leadership and this additional finance, Cara Care is now better positioned than ever before,” said Dr. André Sommer, managing director and co-founder of Cara Care, as well as a medical doctor. We are working hard to enhance treatment for millions of patients suffering from gastroenterological disorders who have slipped through the cracks in our healthcare systems.”