Lumen, an Israel based, hardware startup has just announced a $8.5m deal. Lumen builds a small breath detector to help you “hack your metabolism and lose weight”. The idea is simple (here is a video on how it works), with one breath you get recommendations on what you should eat or do at the gym to reach your goals. Basically, the idea is that we have all different responses to carbs, proteins and fats. Consuming too much carbs for someone which use mostly fat will let you low in energy. The company has sold 11,000 of its $249 devices through crowdfunding and while shipping has not started yet, it has already nested investor trust (and money) to grow the company.
Why it matters?
Lumen and its success (raising more than $2m on a crowdfunding campaign for a totally new hardware concept is quite impressive in the food area) are at the crossing of a few trends:
- Personnalisation: while we have already talked about nutrigenomics (use of DNA to let you know your needs) and the use of microbiome, we have here something really interesting as it produce live information. You can know for each type of food if its good for you and your goals.
- Prediction: more than giving you info, Lumen promise is to give you insights about what you should do and then to work with you to improve towards these goals (either losing weight, having more energy…). This could be a great tool for dieticians to help their patients.
- Keto and other food trends: many of us follow food trends without knowing if they are good for them, this device maybe the answer (it could be also the cause of many disputes in couples where one should eat kept and the other a carb-rich diet).
More info here and here
