Obesity is a global health epidemic. According to the WHO¹, worldwide adult obesity has more than doubled since 1990, and adolescent obesity has quadrupled. Obesity has been linked to multiple other diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, neurological disorders, chronic respiratory diseases, and digestive disorders². The root causes of obesity are often complex. To achieve long-lasting changes, patients should receive treatment that not only lowers their weight but also helps to change their habits. Numerous factors are linked to achieving long-lasting results, for example, face-to-face or web-based interventions, long-term self-help groups, physical activity, low levels of depression, and low-calorie and/or low-fat diets³.

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While obesity negatively impacts individuals’ lives, it also has significant impacts on society as a whole. The World Bank⁴ stated that increasing obesity increases healthcare costs, reduces productivity, and decreases life expectancy. All these have severe impacts on national economies.

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Weight-loss drugs have taken the market by storm, and even though these might kick-start the weight-loss journey, the drugs alone aren’t the cure. For example, Wegovy isn’t meant to be a single cure for obesity; its official intended use is to support lifestyle changes alongside a healthy diet and physical activity.

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We believe the long-term value of Yazen lies in behavioral changes. Patients receive multidisciplinary care from doctors, nurses, dietitians, personal trainers, and psychologists to build habits that result in long-term lifestyle changes. These multi-professional teams help patients tackle the root causes of obesity, which builds towards stronger chances of success. The community helps as well, and that is a vital part of Yazen. The power of community is in empowering people and sharing experiences, to help others or seek support themselves.

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We really liked the pragmatic approach of Team Yazen. You could definitely see that the founders have previously built a digital healthcare platform, Min Doktor. They knew exactly what the pain points of the patients were and how a startup in the healthcare space should be built and operated. They also understood the viewpoint of the caregivers, allowing them to build a platform that is user-friendly for both patients and healthcare professionals. We were really excited about their vision of building a platform that encourages patients to make the right choices to improve their health and well-being, without the slightest tone of accusation.

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Obviously, in healthcare, the results are important. With Yazen, patients were able to drop 16% of their body weight compared to 9% achieved only with medicine. Digital programs have been proven to support weight loss⁵, and we believe Yazen’s model of bringing professionals together is a winning bet. While there are multiple solutions on the market, we were thrilled to see how satisfied Yazen’s patients were with the service. To date, Yazen has over 20,000 patients, and for many, it has been a life-changing experience.  

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This funding round was co-led by Evli Growth Partners and Helsana HealthInvest, with support from Almaz Capital, Yabeo, and existing investors Luminar Ventures and Aggregate Media. We’re also thrilled to welcome our Growth Partner, Mikael Hed, former CEO of Rovio, as Yazen’s new Chair of the Board. His expertise in scaling brands will be invaluable as Yazen takes on the global health challenge of obesity.

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Sources

1. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight

2. GBD 2019 Risk Factor Collaborators. “Global Burden of 87 Risk Factors in 204 Countries and Territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2019”. Lancet. 2020;396:1223–1249.

3. Long-term weight loss maintenance for obesity: a multidisciplinary approach - PMC

4. Obesity: Health and Economic Consequences of anImpending Global Challenge

5. Hesseldal, L. et al. (2022) ‘Long-term weight loss in a primary care–anchored eHealth lifestyle coaching program: Randomized Controlled Trial’, Journal of Medical Internet Research, 24(9).doi:10.2196/39741.

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