Kranus Health receives seven-figure Seed investment to revolutionize Men's Health
Berlin / Munich, 4th of February 2021
Today, the digital men's health platform Kranus Health announced a seven-figure Seed investment. HTGF, A Round Capital, Venture Basecamp and Dr. Ralph Müller are joining Kranus Health as new investors in this round. In addition to the new investors, existing business angels, including Konstantin Mehl (founder Foodora + Kaia Health), have done follow-on investments in the Seed round. With the fresh capital, Kranus Health will further expand its men's health platform and, as a next step, launch a reimbursable digital therapy as a long-term solution for Erectile Dysfunction. The existing expert network of urological specialists will also be further expanded to reach even more men with Kranus Health solutions.
The digital health company Kranus Health was founded in 2020 by Jens Nörtershäuser, Thilo Kleinschmidt, Nikolay Dimolarov and Professor Kurt Miller. The goal is to rethink men's healthcare and improve it with the help of digital solutions. Men's life expectancy is still up to 6 years behind that of women. Thousands of men worldwide die too early due to an unhealthy lifestyle and a lack of preventive care and prevention - there is a general lack of health awareness within men.
Kranus Health has made it its mission to change this. Digital and thus easily accessible patient journeys lower men's barriers to consult a doctor for their problems and enable a healthier lifestyle because users interact with the digital offer in an uncomplicated and frequent way. The first offer is going to be a reimbursable digital therapy for erectile dysfunction (DiGA as an 'app on prescription'). This condition is closely related to serious cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks, the risk factors of which are also to be reduced by the Kranus Health therapy. The start-up works closely with medical specialists and has already built up a broad network of experts consisting of urologists in Germany.
Professor Kurt Miller, Chief Medical Officer at Kranus Health: 'Kranus Health has developed an offer based on scientific findings that provides urologists with completely new and, above all, root-cause-oriented options in the treatment of their patients.' With the fresh capital and the investors' network, the digital therapy is to be further developed this year and brought to market as a reimbursable product, and the digital platform for men's health is also to be expanded with further offerings. Louis Heinz, Investment Manager at HTGF: 'In the case of erectile dysfunction, current offers such as medications are aimed at alleviating the symptoms, but not the causes. With its digital solution, Kranus is helping to improve the quality of life of a large number of men in a long-term and goal-oriented way.'
About Kranus Health
Kranus Health aims to help men lead healthier and longer lives through access to the latest medical care. Founders Thilo Kleinschmidt and Jens Nörtershäuser have known each other for many years through their time together at McKinsey & Company, and both have been passionate about the possibilities of digital transformation for years. Both also had a keen interest in the health sector. Jens is originally a bio-chemical engineer and has years of professional experience in the pharmaceutical sector. Thilo comes from a medical family, his father is a urologist. So the idea to found Kranus at the beginning of 2020 was obvious and also took place against the backdrop of regulatory changes, especially the Digital Health Care Act (DVG). Since then, it has been possible in Germany to significantly improve healthcare through digital therapies. Professor Kurt Miller, former head physician of urology at Charité Berlin, and CTO Nikolay Dimolarov (Celonis, among others) complement the founding team to jointly implement Kranus' vision. To this end, Kranus Health develops digital therapies based on current scientific findings supported by telemedical care from specialists. The spectrum of services ranges from therapies for taboo diseases such as erectile dysfunction to early detection and prevention (e.g., cardiovascular diseases).
About High-Tech Gründerfonds
High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) is a seed investor that finances high-potential, tech-driven start-ups. With around EUR 900 million in total investment volume across three funds and an international network of partners, HTGF has already helped forge almost 600 start-ups since 2005. Driven by their expertise, entrepreneurial spirit and passion, its team of experienced investment managers and startup experts help guide the development of young companies. HTGF’s focus is on high-tech start-ups in the fields of digital tech, industrial technology, life sciences, chemistry and related business areas. To date, external investors have injected almost EUR 3 billion into the HTGF portfolio via more than 1,700 follow-on financing rounds. HTGF has also successfully sold interests in more than 120 companies.
Investors in this public-private partnership include the Federal Ministry For Economic Affairs and Energy, KfW Capital, and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft e.V., as well as the companies ALTANA, BASF, BAYER, B.Braun, Boehringer Ingelheim, Robert Bosch, BÜFA, CEWE, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Post DHL, Dräger, Drillisch AG, EVONIK, EWE AG, FOND OF, Haniel, Hettich, Knauf, Körber, LANXESS, media + more venture Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, PHOENIX CONTACT, QIAGEN, RWE Generation SE, SAP, Schufa, Schwarz Gruppe, STIHL, Thüga, Vector Informatik, WACKER and Wilh. Werhahn KG.