The company, which was in the 2020 Techstars Chicago class, has built an online platform for users to log health data and get personalized health advice from professional dieticians.
When consumers sign up, NutriSense sends them Abbott Laboratories-made glucose monitoring devices, which provide insight into blood sugar levels and indications of diabetes. NutriSense also pulls data from customers’ wearable devices, like Apple Watches and Fitbits. Users also can log what they eat and when they exercise.
Dietitians employed by NutriSense then use all this health data to give feedback and advice on how users’ can alter habits to maintain better health, Skryl says.
“The idea is to get real-time data from your body to understand your responses to your diet and lifestyle,” says Skryl, 34. “The dietitian is really there to point out patterns to add accountability and a human touch to get a person to their health goal.”
Many users turn to NutriSense if they have diabetes or a family history with the disease, Skryl says. Others use the company’s offerings to lose weight. Skryl says he was inspired to start the company because heart disease runs in his own family.
“I wanted to understand how to live my life to keep my cholesterol in check,” he says.
Skryl, a computer engineering and chemistry graduate from the University of Illinois, worked at Chicago technology companies and startups before diving into entrepreneurship. Early on in his career, he worked in research and development at fintech company Enova Financial. He was later the first software engineer hired at Trunk Club, a personal styling firm acquired by Nordstrom. He then transitioned into entrepreneurship as co-founder of Trusted Child Care, an on-demand child care service that was bought by Care.com.
Now with NutriSense, Skryl says the company has about 8,500 customers, who pay anywhere from $200 to $250 per month to use the company’s services. Skryl declined to publicly disclose revenue figures.
The new funding will help NurtiSense reach more users, build out its technology infrastructure, and grow the executive and product and engineering teams. NutriSense employs about 130 people, about half of whom are dietitians, Skryl says. Over the next 18 months, Skryl hopes to double the staff.
NutriSense announces its new funding as venture-capital investors largely pull back amid fears of a recession and a rocky public market. New PitchBook data shows that the amount invested in Chicago companies during the second quarter fell 53% from the prior quarter. Skryl says NutriSense was able to find financing because it began the fundraising process in January.
“We began our fundraise just before the recession fears really started, but it certainly affected our fundraise in that a lot of folks became concerned, especially about consumer businesses,” Skryl says. “We were lucky to have started our fundraise when we did.”
