Dementia describes a set of symptoms that over time can affect memory, problem-solving, language and behaviour. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia. On a global level women with dementia outnumber men 2 to 1. Brain scans have shown that brain cells are dying faster in the women’s than men’s brains.
Founded in 2019 Five Lives, a UK- and France-based startup, has built a content and brain game platform to help prevent dementia through diet advice, mental stimulation, physical activity, sleep, and mood tracking. 25000 users are on the app today. The company initially launched the app in beta in October 2021 and is publicly available since last month.
To invest in clinical validation and growth in the UK market the compan yhas now raised €3.7M in funding led by Headline and Speedinvest. French VC Kima Ventures, healthtech community and fund Voyagers.io, London’s Tiny VC, early-stage investor Proxy Ventures and US-based Snow Capital also participated in the round.
Founder & CEO Xavier Louis told Sifted that about 20% of the round will go towards collecting research to clinically prove that the app does what it says on the tin: prevent dementia. The startup will work with the University of Oxford and research organisation Dementias Platform UK on validating the product. It’s also hoping to grow its user base four-fold to 100k by the end of the year, and has plans to expand into Germany by the end of this year and France by the beginning of 2023. The startup also plans to launch a virtual clinic to connect users with real-life clinicians and coaches by the end of next year.”
