Key Takeaways

• Viome offers health products and services to its users. Viome provides users with personalized recommendations related to their health, empowering them to live healthier lives. The company has had 5 funding rounds in total, raising $102.5 million. They are funded by 4 lead investors; notable investors include Marc Benioff (CEO of Salesforce) and Ocgrow Ventures.
• One of the main competitive advantages Viome has over its competitors is its proprietary technology. Viome’s sophisticated tech provides unique data from the microbiome.
• Modern Fertility is a healthcare technology company that provides at-home health testing for its users. Users would submit blood samples using the testing kit provided to them and return them back to the company. Users can expect to receive their results within a week.

Introduction

1) LetsGetChecked — Background

• LetsGetChecked is an at-home health testing platform; they provide at-home test kits and healthcare solutions.
• The company presents itself as an "alternative to going into a clinic for diagnostic testing." They provide a multitude of at-home tests from wellness to sexual health.
• The company empowers its users to take control of their health; users are given their own personalized dashboard that allows them to keep track of their health insights and supplements or medications.
• According to the company, their women's health tests are specifically catered "to the modern woman who wants to take control of her health."
• Its female hormone test, for example, tests for the following: estradiol, prolactin, follicle-stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone. Tests provided by the company include female hormone tests, thyroid tests, sexual health tests, liver tests, and more.
• Partners of the company include CVS and Walmart.
• They have been featured on Bloomberg, TechCrunch, CNBC, and Cosmopolitan.
• Their website can be found here.

LetsGetChecked — History

• The company was founded in 2015.
• In March 2018, the company raised $12 million from a Series A round.
• The company has performed 2,495,233 tests in total, "detected over 130,000 infections, and worked alongside more than 300 organizations and clients globally."
• As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, at-home health testing companies witnessed a huge boom. According to Axios, EverlyWell, a competitor of LetsGetChecked, saw the demand for its tests double in 2020; in comparison, LetsGetChecked tests witnessed an 880% increase from 2019.

LetsGetChecked — Fundraising History

• LetsGetChecked has had 4 funding rounds, raising $263 million in total.
• They are funded by 13 investors, including 6 lead investors; lead investors include Casdin Capital and HLM Venture Partners.
• According to PrivCo, the company has a post-money valuation in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion as of June 7th, 2021.

LetsGetChecked — Web Traffic Data

• November 2021: 708.1K 
• December 2021: 1M. 
• January 2022: 1.3M. 

LetsGetChecked — Marketing Channel Distribution

• Direct: 44.22%. 
• Referrals: 9.57%. 
• Search: 39.70%. 
• Social: 4.42%. 
• Mail: 1.48%. 
• Display: 0.61%. 

LetsGetChecked — Competitive Advantages

• The company appears to view the discreet nature of its tests as a major selling point, considering it one of its key differentiation strategies. On its official website, for example, the company emphasizes the confidential nature of its test multiple times across several of its web pages. Phrases used by the company in the advertising of its product include the following: "discreet packaging", "private", "generic plain packaging", "confidential", and other synonymous terms.
• The company provides its users with a dedicated care team of nurses that is available 24/7. Having round-the-clock support can establish trust and strengthen brand loyalty among a company's user base.
• From the client's point of view, the assurance of the presence of a dedicated team that's available 24/7 can alleviate anxieties, especially when it comes down to something as crucial and pressing as health.
• Having the option of receiving real-time information, is something that is inherently valued by customers; in fact, according to data from Microsoft's State of Global Customer Service Report, over half (56%) of people have "stopped doing business with a company because of poor customer service experience."
• The company has a highly accredited network of laboratories; its laboratory partners "carry the highest levels of accreditation including CAP and ISO accreditation and CLIA certification."

LetsGetChecked — Digital Marketing (Trustpilot)

• Customer reviews are an essential factor for those making purchase decisions; one study found that customer reviews are 12 times more trusted than marketing that's coming directly from the company.
• On LetsGetChecked's home page, the company has on display a widget of the consumer review website, Trustpilot. On Trustpilot, the company has a score of "Excellent," with a rating of 4.5/5.00 over 13,415 reviews (as of March 2022). By providing this social proof of its excellent score, the company is able to generate trust among its readers.
• Because of Trustpilot's reputation, a number of companies have integrated TrustPilot onto their website in order to entice prospects; in fact, Trustpilot advocates for this and even has a dedicated web page targeted towards business owners and/or marketers that's titled, "How to use Trustpilot reviews in your marketing strategy."
• By strategically placing selected positive reviews and testimonials on the company's home page amidst marketing/advertising messages, the company is able to provide interested prospects the assurances they need to make a first-time purchase. Results from one study, for example, show that people in general, tend to trust and value the "opinions of their peers far more. Statistics also show that ads that incorporate user-generated content receive four times higher click-through rates."
• According to a survey by Dimensional Research, 90% of users are "influenced by positive reviews when buying a product." The same survey found that 72% of users consider "online reviews as important as opinions from friends and family"

LetsGetChecked — Digital Marketing (Social Media)

• Data show that an overwhelming majority of the traffic that's directed to the company's website comes from YouTube (79.22%), with Facebook coming in at a distant second (16.82%).
• The traffic directed into the company's website from YouTube appears to come mainly from 1) the company's official YouTube channel, and 2) influencers promoting the company.
• YouTube marketing is a "strategy that involves the creation and uploading of videos to promote a brand or a product and gain exposure" for the company. On its official YouTube channel, while the number of subscribers and videos is modest compared to some (33.7k subscribers, with 94 videos), the channel has received a substantial amount of views.
• Data show that the channel has received over 6.7 million views since its inception on March 6th, 2014.
• Twenty-one of its videos have reached the milestone of over 100,000 views, with its five top videos receiving 687,000, 605,000, 514,000, 460,000, and 412,000 views respectively.
• The videos typically consist of a healthcare expert (such as Dr. Dominic Rowley) answering common medical questions and topics, such as the ways to boost testosterone and the root causes of fatigue.

2) SelfDecode — Background

• SelfDecode is a health tech company that provides users with comprehensive information of their personal genomic profile based on their genome. Based on the feedback received, users can utilize the information to rectify any shortcomings.
• The company utilizes blood tests, genetics, and other health data to predict favorable outcomes to optimize the health of its users.
• On TrustPilot, the company has received an "Excellent" rating of 4.8/5.00 (279 reviews).
• The company has been featured on Forbes and PBS.
• Their website can be found here.

SelfDecode — History

• The company was founded in 2014.
• In December 2021, the company announced that it would be diversifying and increasing its reach by moving into business-to-business (B2B).

SelfDecode — Fundraising History

• SelfDecode has had two funding rounds, raising $8 million in total.
• They are funded by 3 investors, including 1 lead investor. Their investors are Dan Manguszewski, Bay Wharf Capital, and Igor Lychagov (lead investor).

SelfDecode — Web Traffic Data

• November 2021: 1.5m 
• December 2021: 1.5m. 
• January 2022: 1.7m. 

SelfDecode — Marketing Channel Distribution

• Search: 81.52%. 
• Direct: 15.11% 
• Referrals: 1.13%. 
• Social: 1.66%. 
• Mail: 0.54% 
• Display: 0.04% 

SelfDecode — Competitive Advantages

• According to the company, what makes them unique to its competitors is its dedication to health. SelfDecode has a dedicated team that scours hundreds of peer-reviewed studies each week to bring customers the latest research information. The team updates their database with new scientific research on a consistent basis so that users are kept up-to-date with the "most comprehensive health information possible."
• While other DNA testing services may limit the information they share, SelfDecode has a database that enables users to look up any SNP from their test and access their raw data at any time.
• The company is also committed to privacy, enforcing the following practices: secure SSL certified connections only, disk write protection, script protection, plugin access restriction, external security penetration testing, annual SAS 60 Type II examinations, encryption of all backup media, and maintained audit logs.
• The company provides actionable recommendations alongside its health reports.

SelfDecode — Marketing Strategies

• The company positions itself as a player that is revolutionizing the healthcare industry; according to the company, it is the "only consumer-focused precision health software on the market."
• One of the marketing channels used by the company is its blog. Most notably, the company would publish comprehensive write ups of its competitors on its blog. SelfDecode would provide an overview of its competitors and proceed to provide its reasons as to why they have the edge over its competitors, highlighting the competitive advantages it has over top competitors in select aspects (e.g. pricing, offerings).
• A sample review can be found here. In the review, SelfDecode pits itself against one of its competitors in the health space, EverlyWell.
• The following excerpt is taken from the review: "EverlyWell is a great option for anyone looking to do lab tests from home. However, if you are looking to expand upon your knowledge of your health beyond traditional medicine, EverlyWell does not offer much in that sense. Their recommendations are based only on single lab markers, so this makes it difficult to know how these recommendations relate to your overall health. An alternative such as SelfDecode can give you personalized diet, lifestyle, and supplement recommendations on over 30 health topics based on your genes. Plus, with SelfDecode you’ll get access to LabTestAnalyzer, a tool that allows you to upload lab test results and receive an analysis of what your various markers mean and how to improve them, a more in-depth analysis than EverlyWell can offer. "
• SelfDecode's website received approximately 1,700,000 visits for the month of January 2022, with the channel driving the most traffic to the website is through search engines (99.60% organic keyword search).
• The company utilizes search engine optimization (SEO) to increase its visibility. According to analytics, an enormous amount of traffic is being directed to SelfDecode's website through search engines, mainly its primary channel (81.52%). Through the use of curated keywords, it appears that the company is successful in directing prospects that may be initially interested in the services of a competitor, to their website where they are able to issue the narrative, ultimately with the aim of convincing the prospect that SelfDecode provides a much better value than its competitors.

• The company also leverages customer testimonials to humanize and promote its brand.
• SelfDecode utilizes written and video testimonials as part of its marketing strategy. According to Mike Boogard of the marketing agency MOI Global, video testimonials, in particular, "is incredibly powerful and easily shareable."
• By including customer testimonials on its home page, SelfDecode is able to display to its audience the commitment that it has to the customer experience.

3) Inside Tracker (Segterra) — Background

• Segterra is a company that provides personalized health insights through its InsideTracker platform.
• The company was founded by leading scientists, nutritionists exercise physiologists, and physicians from renowned establishments such as Tufts University, MIT, and Harvard University.
• The company's vision is to extend the duration and quality of human life; they do so by empowering them with the data and insights that they require "to manage and optimize their own health."
• Inside Tracker analyzes and tracks key biochemical and physiological markers as they change over time. They then use its extensive scientific databases and sophisticated algorithms to determine optimal zones for each of its user's markers. Finally, they would provide users with lifestyle and nutrition interventions backed by science to optimize their markers.
• They have been featured on CNN, Wired, USA Today, and the Discovery Channel.
• Their website can be found here.

Inside Tracker —History

• The company was founded in 2009.
• In 2020, the company launched InnerAge 2.0.
• During the same year (2020), they released what the company deemed as the biggest update to the InsideTracker experience— the InsideTracker mobile app for iOS.
• In May 2021, the company announced the availability of Garmin integration.
• InsideTracker has witnessed tremendous exponential growth in recent years; analytics shows that the company's official website saw a massive spike in web traffic over the past couple of months, almost doubling its visitor count (from ~603,500 in December 2021 to ~1,100,000 in January 2022).

Inside Tracker — Fundraising History

• The company has had 4 funding rounds, raising $3.2 million in total.
• Their last funding was raised on May 6th, 2014 from a Series A round
• The company is funded by two investors—Henry Kauftheil and MassVentures.

Inside Tracker — Analytics

• Bounce rate: 65.80%.
• Pages per visit: 2.46. 
• Average visit duration: 1 minute 31 seconds. 

Inside Tracker — Web Traffic

• November 2021: 565.8k. 
• December 2021: 603.5k. 
• January 2022: 1.1 million. 

Inside Tracker — Marketing Channels Distribution

• Direct: 33.39%. 
• Referrals: 0.94% 
• Search: 51.08%. 
• Social: 9.94%. 
• Mail: 2.85% 
• Display: 1.81% 

Inside Tracker — Competitive Advantages

• The company is one of the few services that offer both blood and DNA testing for short and long-term health insights.
• InsideTrackers uses bio-information to create a personalized health program specifically created for the individual; results from blood tests, for example, are coupled with helpful insights such as a detailed hypothesis as to why the user is experiencing a particular problem so that the individual is able to take the required steps necessary to rectify that particular issue.
• InsideTracker prides itself on being able to offer "unmatched value" to its clients; according to InsideTracker, while its competitors may offer only raw data, InsideTracker is able to provide "much more — at a lower cost."
• The company's partnership with Garmin allows for more precise and personalized recommendations. Users that integrate InsideTracker with data from their Garmin account are able to receive "real-time health analytics and insights derived from physiomarkers like REM sleep, deep sleep, and resting heart rate."
• For example, a user of InsideTracker, whose "decline in deep sleep is recorded by their Garmin device" would be able to receive an InsideTracker tip notifying them of their "genetic predisposition to low magnesium and prior low magnesium detected in their bloodwork, with a prompt to take a magnesium supplement prior to bed or increase daily intake of magnesium-rich foods like avocado, spinach, and cashews."

Sample test —

 

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Inside Tracker — Marketing Strategies

• The company is active on social media; on Instagram, they have amassed over 100,000 followers, with a total of 2,768 posts published by the account.
• They have approximately 36,800 followers on Twitter.
• In order to strengthen brand awareness, Inside Tracker had partnered with Garmin; Garmin is a company that provides communications, information, and navigation devices that are enabled by GPS technology.
• Partnership marketing is an effective way for two (or more) businesses to collaborate and combine forces to reach a wider audience. Research shows that a vast majority of brands view partnerships as central to the company's growth.
• Data from Partnerize, show that over half (54%) of surveyed companies say that "partnerships drive more than 20% of total company revenue."
• Data show that 74% of companies say that "partnerships and affiliate marketing campaigns are a high or very high priority for their businesses."
• Forrester Research found that 76% of companies agree that partnerships are key to delivering revenue goals.

4) Modern Fertility — Background

• Modern Fertility is a healthcare technology company that provides at-home health testing for its users.
• Users would submit blood samples using the testing kit provided to them and return them back to the company. Users can expect to receive their results within a week.
• According to the company, the target audience is "people with ovaries who want to learn more about their bodies.
• A thyroid report is also included by Modern Fertility; according to the company, 33% of Modern Fertility users have thyroid results that "should be discussed with a doctor before trying to conceive."
• One is able to pay for its tests using their HSA or FSA.
• All of their tests are conducted in their CLIA-accredited laboratory.
• They have been featured on Vogue, The New York Times, Forbes, Wired, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and more.
• Their website can be found here.

Sample Test:

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Modern Fertility — History

• Modern Fertility was established in 2017 by Carly Leahy and Afton Vechery.
• In May 2018, the company raised a $6 million seed round from Maveron.
• In May 2021, Digital health company, Ro, announced its plans to acquire Modern Fertility in a deal worth $225 million.

Modern Fertility — Fundraising History

• Modern Fertility has had 3 funding rounds, raising $22 million in total.
• Modern Fertility is funded by a total of 10 investors.
• They are funded by 4 lead investors—Forerunner Ventures, Maveron, Union Square Ventures, and First Round Capital.

Modern Fertility — Website Data

• Bounce rate: 62.97% 
• Pages per visit: 1.70 
• Average visit duration: 40 seconds. 

Modern Fertility — Web Traffic

• November 2021: 286.6K. 
• December 2021: 349.7K. 
• January 2022: 354.1K. 

Modern Fertility — Marketing Channel Distribution

• Direct: 20.92% 
• Referrals: 0.73%. 
• Search: 72.60%
• Social: 2.67%. 
• Mail: 2.80%. 
• Display: 0.28%. 

Modern Fertility — Competitive Advantages

• Modern Fertility offers its clients more than just its products; clients are granted access to one-on-one consultations with a nurse, provided with an information-rich library of resources, and access to live seminars.
• And if any of the hormones are flagged for retesting, the company promises to offer the client another test for free.

• Healthline, a website that provides medical information and health guidance and a company that, in 2020, passed WebMD to become the #1 ranked health information website in the United States, considers Modern Fertility as the provider of the best at-home fertility test ahead of similar competitors such as EverlyWell and LetsGetChecked.
• The results of its tests are reviewed by a board-certified physician.

Modern Fertility — Marketing Strategies

• The company has a strong social media presence.
• The company is active on Instagram; as of March 2022, the account (@modernfertility) has 1,210 Instagram posts.
• The company is regarded to be highly successful in terms of its reach on social media. According to the Instagram Engagement Report, only 0.94% of users have between 100,001 to 500,000 Instagram followers. In comparison, the company currently has over 101,000 followers on Instagram. Its successful social media marketing strategy may be a result of the following factors:
• 1) Being an active poster; according to data obtained on the company, the company publishes 18 posts on average per month (4.2 posts per week) on Instagram.
• 2) The social media posts are highly engaging; there are multiple instances where the administrator of the account would address users that leave comments. During instances where the company does not directly reply to a comment, the company would also so sometimes show approval by liking the comment (s) that were posted by the users. This act of acknowledgment by the company can reinforce the relationship between the company and a prospect. Results from a survey found that 65% of survey respondents (1,000 respondents in total) say that they are "emotionally connected to a brand in a way that makes them feel like the company cares about them."
• 3) The brand voice and tone used by the company on social media are very appealing to its target audience.


 
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5) Viome — Background

• The company offers health tests and services to its users. They provide users with personalized recommendations related to their health, empowering them to live healthier lives.
• Viome utilizes the most "robust, advanced form of RNA sequencing called metatranscriptomic analysis."
• At present (early March 2022), Viome has served over 300,000 users.
• According to the company, 70% of their surveyed customers report "noticeable or significant improvements after following their personalized recommendations for at least 90 days."
• Their website can be found here.

Viome — Major Historical News

• Viome was incorporated on October 1st, 2016.
• In 2019, the company crossed 100,000 customers and was the fastest-growing microbiome testing company in the industry.
• In 2019, the company was recognized by Frost & Sullivan as "a 2019 Company of the Year."
• In August 2020, researchers from Viome utilized the platform to "analyze saliva samples from oral cancer patients; they discovered bio-markers in the resulting analysis that were directly linked to cancer signatures."
• The platform's diagnostic was able to detect the "early signs of oral cancer with a sensitivity of about 83%—and over 93% for stage 1 cancers—and a specificity of nearly 98%."
• As a result of this research, its saliva test received the Food and Drug Administration's breakthrough device designation for use in early screening for oropharyngeal cancer and oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Viome — Fundraising History

• Viome has had 5 funding rounds, raising $102.5 million in total.
• Viome is funded by a total of 10 investors; Bold Capital Partners and Ocgrow Ventures are the company's most recent investors.
• They are funded by 4 lead investors; notable investors include Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce and Ocgrow Ventures.
• Viome announced the acquisition of Habit Food Personalized on February 6th, 2019.

Viome — Web Traffic

• Viome's web traffic over the past three months are as follows:
• November 2021: 255.7k. 
• December 2021: 218.9K. 
• January 2022: 204.7K. 

Viome — Marketing Channels Distribution

• Direct: 49.89% 
• Referrals: 1.40% 
• Search: 42.04% 
• Social: 2.15% 
• Mail: 0.55% 
• Display: 3.97%. 

Viome — Competitive Advantages

• With its cutting-edge, proprietary technology, Viome positions itself on the market as a disruptor in the healthcare space.
• Viome's Gut Intelligence Test is the only direct-to-consumer (D2C) microbiome test that utilizes metatranscriptomic technology to analyze activity in its users' gut microbiome and then supply them with personalized, tailor-made recommendations. Viome’s peer-reviewed "Viomega method for metatranscriptomics is unique in the direct-to-consumer microbiome landscape."
• Viome’s sophisticated tech provides unique functional data from the microbiome and "is the only test in the market to offer the same."
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Viome — Digital Marketing (Social Media)

• Viome is active on social media. They have over 91,000 followers on Instagram.
• The company does not inundate readers with jargon; straightforward language is used to connect with the average reader that may be otherwise unfamiliar with technical terminology. The exception to this is on the pages where the company is required to explain the science behind its technology.

Viome — Marketing Strategy (Color Psychology)

• The company's official website has a "minimalist" theme in its design. The color, white, is used predominantly in the main body of the website across its pages.
• The following image is a screenshot of the home page of the company's website:
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• It is not uncommon to see companies, especially in healthcare/health-tech to select a "minimalist" theme akin to Viome as part of their branding. While some of it is purely or mostly aesthetic or a creative decision, the selection of colors is also utilized as a marketing strategy in order to invoke certain emotions in the end-user. The color white is generally selected because of its association with hospitals; it is also ascribed to cleanliness, making it ideal for healthcare websites.
• Associations are very powerful, leading to thoughts (subconscious or otherwise) and decisions.
• In addition, Viome's website also has a modern look and feel; this is ideal since it is a technology company that focuses on its cutting-edge technology as a differentiation strategy to distinguish itself from the competition.

PART II: PRIVATE LABEL MANUFACTURERS

Makers Nutrition

• Makers Nutrition is a private label manufacturer of supplement/vitamin products in the form of tablets, powders, liquids, and soft gels.
• The company has a revenue of between $50 million to $99.9 million annually.
• They have a minimum order quantity (MOQ) of 500 bottles.
• The company provides 24/7 service through telephone (1-844-625-3771).
• Notable clients include eBay, Walmart, Costco, Walgreens, CVS Pharmacy, Target, and Sam's Club.
• The company has been featured in BOSS Magazine.
• According to one of its representatives, Jason Provenzano, customer experience is integral. The following statement is a quote by Mr.Provenzano of Makers Nutrition on the company: "Each of our clients is assigned a product specialist to guide them seamlessly through the process. Clients can submit a formula through our website or through a sales team member, the ingredients are sourced and priced out and we can hold the pricing for about 30 days… if they decide to move forward we source and procure the material, get it tested, the product ingredients get staged for mixing and the batch sheets are sent to the client for approval. At that point, we are underway. The client is always kept in the loop and asked to sign in approval at every step of the process so there are never any surprises or costly misunderstandings."
• Their website can be found here.

Aegle Nutrition

• Aegle Nutrition provides high-quality, low-cost private label manufacturing with short lead times. They claim to be the "best liquid manufacturer in the industry."
• Notable clients include Walmart, Whole Foods, CVS Pharmacy, GNC, Walgreens, Vitacost, Nature's Best, and Swanson Health Products.
• Their website can be found here.

Evora

• Evora provides private label manufacturing services for nutraceutical, supplement, and personal care products.
• They are based in Florida.
• Their website can be found here.

Aphena Pharma Solutions

• The company is a service provider in the pharmaceutical, medical device, OTC, and biologics industries.
• The company is FDA registered, DEA-licensed, UL-certified, USP verified, and cGMP compliant.
• Their manufacturing operation is on 26 acres with three manufacturing facilities covering a total of 184,000 square feet.

• Their website can be found here.

Nutrix

• Nutrix provides private labeling, contract manufacturing, custom formulating services for personal care, health, and wellness products.
• The Nutrix way of doing business consists of "state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities, premium design services, industry-leading formulas, and low minimum orders."
• Their website can be found here.

Pharmatech

• Pharmatech Labs is a nutritional contract manufacturer of powder and liquid supplements.
• Their website can be found here.

Daily Manufacturing

• Daily Manufacturing has the capacity to produce 150k bottles per day and 5 million bottles per month.
• They have a live chat system; representatives are online between 08:00 to 18:00 PST.
• Their website can be found here.

Hydrox Labs

• The company is a provider of private label manufacturing services for the personal care, body care, first aid industries.
• They have an annual capacity of 400 million units.
• Clients include companies in the Fortune 500.
• Their website can be found here.

Supplement Manufacturing Labs

• The company provides private-label manufacturing services for supplements.
• The company is verified on Thomasnet.
• The company is FDA-approved.
• Their website can be found here.

Seacole

• Seacole is a company that provides private label manufacturing services as well as "chemical management, contract blending, packaging & laboratory services."
• They are based in Minnesota.
• Their website can be found here.

Research Strategy