Epicore Biosystems is advancing its position in the personalized health monitoring space with a $26 million Series B funding round. The investment, spearheaded by the Steele Foundation for Hope, will facilitate the global expansion of the company's hydration management solutions while enabling exploration into new biomarker applications.
The company's technology platform utilizes microfluidic channels and biosensors to analyze biomarkers in perspired sweat, offering continuous health monitoring capabilities. CEO and cofounder Dr. Roozbeh Ghaffari explained, "Our technology measures both the concentration of biomarkers and the extent of tiny droplets of sweat, providing continuous and real-time insights into hydration and metabolic health."
Epicore's current product portfolio includes two distinct solutions addressing hydration monitoring needs. The Connected Hydration platform provides continuous monitoring of fluid and electrolyte losses, skin temperature, and movement, alerting users when fluid loss reaches 2% of body weight – a level associated with cognitive impairment. Additionally, through a partnership with PepsiCo and Gatorade, the company offers the Gx Sweat Patch, a single-use colorimetric assay patch that measures sodium and fluid losses during workouts.
"With Connected Hydration, we offer real-time hydration biometrics and automated alerts, while the Gx Sweat Patch delivers validated hydration snapshots with minimal device overhead," Ghaffari noted.
The company is expanding its capabilities beyond hydration monitoring. "We've been building new capabilities in areas like ketones for muscle glycogen depletion, urea and creatinine for kidney health, and essential nutrients such as calcium, iron, zinc and vitamin C for nutrition monitoring," Ghaffari said. These developments are being validated through collaborations with Northwestern University.
As global health challenges related to climate change and extreme heat exposure increase, Epicore aims to address the growing need for non-invasive monitoring solutions. "Our goal is to drive highly individualized improvements in hydration, metabolic health and wellness for all," stated Ghaffari.
This funding round builds upon the company's previous $10 million investment secured in 2022, positioning Epicore to advance its technology in the expanding health monitoring device market, which includes recent innovations such as Circular's Ring 2 with FDA-cleared ECG capabilities and Samsung's Galaxy Ring and Watch Ultra featuring AI-powered insights.
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