Co-founded in 2014 by Laurence Olivier, CEO, and Dr. Franco du Preez, Chief Scientist, LifeQ is a provider of biometrics and health insights derived from wearable devices.
By offering a 24/7 lens into the body, LifeQ generates business-grade biometrics for consumers, athletes, and the acutely and chronically ill to detect health problems earlier, manage their existing problems, and prevent illness.
The company enables wearable devices to provide business-grade and near-clinical-grade health information streams and uses this data to generate health and wellness solutions for consumer, business, and clinical applications.
LifeQ’s GDPR-compliant solutions are used by consumers, wearable device companies, insurers, reinsurers, health-tech companies, clinicians, researchers, and analytics companies.
With offices in South Africa, the United States (US), and the Netherlands, LifeQ provides a 24/7 lens into the body, generating business-grade biometrics for consumers, athletes, and the acutely and chronically ill to detect health problems earlier, manage their existing problems, and prevent illness.
LifeQ has two key value propositions: enabling wearable devices to provide business-grade and near clinical-grade health information streams; and using this data to generate health and wellness solutions for consumer, business, and clinical applications.
LifeQ is rapidly becoming the preferred health enabler and benchmark for the world’s top consumer electronics companies, powering the next wave of digitally enabled insurance and health management, and has already had a significant, life-changing, and even life-saving impact on real users’ lives.
Businesses that have incorporated LifeQ into their offerings include prominent global entities such as Samsung, Xiaomi, Fossil Group, Montblanc, Motorola, Suunto, and HannoverRe.
Leading semiconductor manufacturers like Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, and Pixart have endorsed LifeQ as the best OEM enabler for users of their chipsets and platforms.
How it Works
Biometrics
Their unique use of computational systems biology brings predictive models that are based on knowledge and causative relationships and thereby are contextualized concerning existing scientific knowledge and causal relationships.
This allows them to work closely with experts in clinical and preventative health to drive the most actionable insights for users of their technology.
Machine learning technology is essential to the LifeQ mission, which they leverage to optimize the predictive power of causally sound relationships.
They also bring the latest in wearable-based sensing technology together with a deep understanding of human physiology in the development of mathematical models, required to deliver outputs that provide deep insight into our health.
This unique holistic approach underpins all of their assets and solutions and is the linchpin and foundation of their causal relationships starting at the 360-degree nature of our LifeQ Lenz.
Raw Data
Their value starts at the sensor level where we provide software that is unparalleled in managing and obtaining the quality of the light-based (photoplethysmography – PPG) sensor where we can then extract meaningful biometric information, the key measures that help derive our solutions.
Physiology and Behaviors
Their ability to build causal mathematical models, based on systems biology and a deep understanding of human physiology, is key in mastering how their computational systems biology (CSB) method drives, manages, and informs machine learning, utilizing foundational biometric measures, scientific literature, your basic profile, and LifeQ magic, to generate and refine outputs as the starting point.
These outputs are the health information products that are building blocks of their health solutions – from simple single variable algorithms to highly complex models combining longitudinal data across multiple variables.
Physiological States
The resultant information is what will revolutionize the world health and wellness landscape; it is our LifeQ magic.
This data is not trivial in size, consumption, composition, applicable to all use cases or health problems, or what you may have subscribed to.
To simplify the access to and use of the information, we have created health-specific information streams that can be subscribed to and used through the LifeQ Platform.
This allows you as a consumer or a business, to specifically have access to specific information to use with a consumer or to leverage and enrich by adding your company’s specific added value.
Insights
They further pre-package the health information products into solutions relevant to businesses, specialists (such as sleep specialists, and cardio specialists), clinicians, and you.
FDA Clearance
LifeQ has created a solid foundation for the future of health with FDA approvals for a range of our solutions.
From the get-go, we have curated, trialed, and validated all of our biomarkers and solutions, and are rapidly leveraging these outcomes in driving FDA clearance
Validation Papers
They take validation seriously. Everything they measure, all markers they compile, and all physiology states they arrive at have been through a rigorous validation cycle against the most referenced, reliable, market-followed gold standard.
That is why they have been in incubation for such a long time, spending over a decade studying and understanding the factors influencing human health.
Wearables
LifeQ is the leading independent provider of biometrics and health information software for wearable devices, which can play a significant role in managing our health.
These wearables continuously and accurately track critical biometrics used in the extraction of a range of health metrics and solutions.
LifeQ Enabled devices allow you to wear devices longer, charge more infrequently and allow you to have multiple devices for specific social settings (style, activity, event) you are enjoying.
Their goal is to remove all friction, encouraging you to wear your device for longer periods, around the clock regardless of work, dinner, or special event.
This is possible as LifeQ Enabled devices are configured to continuously gather the most accurate and broadest range of biometrics, at the lowest possible power consumption, in the most form-fitting wearable for you, right now.
This also allows them to deliver unrivaled health information into the ecosystem that will in near real-time help you become informed on what you are doing at the moment and how it is impacting your health.
The LifeQ team of specialists has worked with the world’s largest silicon and electronics companies for years to develop an unrivaled set of skills, tools, and software for the measurement of biometrics on a range of wearable devices, specializing in wrist-based.
Consulting
Assistance in innovation, design, and optimization of the mechanical, optomechanical, sensor, and electronic components toward optimal signal quality, biometric accuracy, and coverage.
Sensor Management
Firmware to maximize performance within the device at the lowest power consumption.
Algorithms
To extract key biometrics and calculate a range of health metrics:
Foundational: heart rate, beat-to-beat intervals
Calculated metrics for heart, fitness, sleep, activity, and respiration health.
Connectivity
Software and tools to collate and compress data for easy low friction transportation.
Platform Technology
The LifeQ platform allows them to glue people and data together, in a very simple way, that ensures they comply with data security and privacy standards including GDPR, HIPAA, PII, POPi, and ISO27001.
Users have full control of their data. This means you get to select who, for what periods, can see how and when data is used. You get to decide when it is deleted, you can turn it on or off, and you get to decide who sees your name linked to your data.
Additionally, they use the platform to manage all providers and consumers of information related to you through some very smart uses of technology components.
They strongly believe in human-centric processing of personal data and the right to privacy, they actively ensure that they only collect the data they need and that they only process it to enable them to make it meaningful to you and the services you subscribe to.
They at all times work to protect and hide any personally identifiable information provided by you.
This platform allows them to bring partners and customers together that provide you with consumer-focused solutions.
The GDPR codifies and unifies data privacy laws across all European Union member countries and is being adopted by companies in the USA.
GDPR applies to any business collecting personal data from a citizen of the EU including personal data such as any information related to a natural person that can be used to directly or indirectly identify that person.
Failure to comply with GDPR can result in penalties for non-compliance that are potentially devastating.
Founders
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier has been involved in venture capital since 1990. As Senior Business Development Manager and SVP of Private Equity at Anglo American (AA), a leading global mining concern, he represents AA’s interests in several venture funds, including the AAV fund managed by Veritas. He serves on the boards of various AAV portfolio companies.
Olivier was also a board member of MCPEPA (an East Asian private equity fund) and MCA (a South African fund – Chairman of the Investment Committee).
At AA, Laurence Olivier pioneered the establishment of new technology-driven businesses and serves on the boards of a variety of publicly traded and privately held businesses, including Anglo American Industrial Corporation Ltd., CytoDome, and ClickFox.
Additionally, Olivier was born and raised in South Africa, and holds a B.Engineering (Electronics) from the University of Pretoria, and a B.Com (Hons) and diploma in Datametrics from the University of South Africa.
Franco du Preez
Franco du Preez is the Chief Science Officer and Co-Founder at LifeQ.
Kora Holm
Kora Holm is the Innovation Manager at Paques.
Additionally, Kora Holm has had a past job as the Co-Founder and VP of Research at LifeQ.
Riaan Conradie
Riaan’s passion is understanding how systems work which has led him to a deep understanding of a broad range of areas spanning biology, physics, math, engineering, and design.
Riaan has first-hand experience with the impact of disease (as a young boy Riaan lost his eye to retinoblastoma).
Soon after completing his Ph.DRiaan realized that by combining his specialist knowledge in Computational Systems Biology with his entrepreneurial spirit there was an opportunity to make a real difference in how the world managed health.
Over the past years, Riaan with a 40+ multidisciplinary team has been working with strategic and technology partners, third-party developers, and research hubs to develop a biotechnological platform that could bring this dream to reality.
Investors & Funding Rounds
OneBio Venture Studio, Virgin Group, Tenhong Holdings, Stellar Capital Partners, Nedbank, Mogul Capital, Lireas Holdings, Hannover Re, Halls Investments, 4Di Capital, Invenfin, Allectus Capital, Analog Devices, Convergence Partners, Allen & Company, Allen & Company.
LifeQ has raised $ 47 million in a Series A funding round led by One Bio Venture Studio, a Cape Town-based VC.
With the funds received, LifeQ will enable hospitals and physicians to develop remote monitoring as well as consumer-device monitoring.
LifeQ has also assembled a valuable shareholder base to assist with business expansion that spans an impressive list of institutions and strategic investors, including Invenfin, 4Di Capital, Allectus Capital, Mogul Capital, Tenhong Holdings, Analog Devices, Hannover Re, Convergence Partners, Stellar Capital Partners, Nedbank Corporate and Investment Bank, Delos, OneBio Seed Investment Fund, Virgin Group, Lireas, Allen & Co, and Acequia Capital.
Additionally, LifeQ has drawn the backing of experienced entrepreneurs and family offices such as Rachel Diamond, Halls Investments, Bremer Investments, Errol Damelin, and Dietco, among others.
Main Competitors
Kytopen: This is a developer of a cell therapy platform for the non-viral delivery of molecules into hard-to-transfect immune cells.
Surface Oncology: It was created to advance next-generation approaches to cancer immunotherapy based on proprietary insights.
Novellus: This is a biotechnology company working to develop engineered cellular medicines.
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