The diabetes data management company aims to expand its sales, marketing, and development teams through new investors to deepen its expertise in data analytics.

Kristopher Sturgis

Glooko's latest funding round secures its position in the market as the company goes up against larger competitors, such as Johnson & Johnson. The new funds also raise speculation that investor Medtronic could be gearing up to eventually acquire Glooko.

Insulet Corp., Medtronic, and Mayo Clinic have joined a $35 million investment round for Glooko, a company that has developed a digital health management system for diabetes. Medtronic also invested in Glooko's previous financing round in 2015, which raises speculation that it is likely in a prime position to eventually acquire Glooko. Samsung also participated in both the recent and previous rounds. Insulet has also worked with Glooko before, and last year launched a new data system for its OmniPod device that uses Glooko's data management technology.

Glooko said the new funds will help the company accelerate growth, broaden its international presence, and expand its expertise in data analytics. Among many new efforts, the company plans to use the investment to expand and increase commercialization efforts in Europe, as well as further the development of data analytics and artificial intelligence that can provide personalized insights for patients to improve the management of diabetes.

The announcement follows a recent deal that partnered Glooko with health coaching company Fit4D, a move designed to provide better data-driven support for patients using the company's app by connecting them with a health coach. The partnership aims to provide patients with an experience that isn't solely technology-based, but rather gives them access to a network of coaches that can provide a human touch to their day-to-day diabetes management.

The company recently completed a study and found that patients who use the Glooko mobile app experience an improvement on their average blood glucose levels, which can greatly reduce the risk of complications associated with the disease. With the cost of diabetes management continuing to rise, and studies indicating that the number of patients affected by the disease may rise to as many as 700 million by 2025, there's little doubt that systemic changes are needed to help improve the lives of millions of patients -- something that Glooko's investors hope to help the company achieve through new funding.

"This additional funding will help us to further our mission to improve the lives of people with diabetes," said Glooko CEO Rick Altinger. "With this capital, we will accelerate our investments in clinical solutions that aim to increase medication adherence, provide personalized insights and prompts that drive behavior change for people with diabetes, and deliver clinical decision support to thousands of clinicians and coaches so they can better support people with diabetes in between office visits."

The new funding could also help Glooko strengthen its position in the industry, as it competes with the likes of Johnson & Johnson.

Kristopher Sturgis is a contributor to Qmed.

[Image credit: Glooko Inc.]