Choose Health is a developer of at-home personalized blood tests. The company is also raising capital through a crowdfunding campaign on Republic. The minimum to invest in Choose Health stock is $100.
The CEO and co-founder of the company is Mark Holland. Before launching Choose Health in 2018, he built and sold a nutraceutical brand to a Fortune 500 consumer products company. He also started CPG Experience, which is a venture and portfolio brand building business.
As for Choose Health, Holland has recruited two other co-founders. There is Michael Aaron, who was previously the marketing chief at Onnit and Canvas Groups. He has also served as an executive to digital agencies like Deutsch, Razorfish and Engine Digital.
Then there is Sarah Mosser, who has 15 years in the medical and nutraceutical industry. She has worked at Bio-Botanical Research, Romark and Warner Chilcott.
How It Works
According to the Choose Health website, the mission of the company is “to empower one million people to improve at least one key marker of internal health.”
How so? Well, take a look at the workflow. First, you will take a short online survey to get a sense of the markers that are relevant, such as those based on lifestyle, health goals and family history. Choose Health also has doctors on staff that can help with recommendations. The main markers include total cholesterol, triglycerides, hbA1c, GGT, hs-CRP, and testosterone. There is even a novel coronavirus antibody test.
Then you will order a personalized test, which you should receive within a week. The kit will have test supplies, a tape measure for visceral fat and a prepaid package. You will then take a sample with a single prick of your finger. This will be sent to a lab and you should receive analysis within a few days. You can also access the results via a mobile app, which uses end-to-end encryption.
In terms of traction for this startup — which is certainly essential for whether to invest in Choose Health stock — there is some good news. Since the launch in October 2019, the company has logged more than 350 subscriptions and the monthly recurring revenue (MRR) is over $6,000. By the end of the year, the forecast is for more than 2,500 subscriptions and MRR in excess of $50,000.
Note that the most important channel for Choose Health is Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). Choose Health’s kits start at $68 for a quarterly subscription.
The direct-to-consumer lab testing market is definitely attractive. According to Choose Health’s investor presentation, the spending on this category grew by 53% last year to $300 million. And yes, with the impact of the pandemic, there has been even more interest in digital and at-home approaches for healthcare.
Invest in Choose Health Stock?
Up until now, the company has been self-funded. But as for the crowdfunding campaign, Choose Health has raised more than $94,000 from over 300 investors. The valuation has been set at $5 million.
The investment has been structured as a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) instrument. This means that you will not receive any equity until there is a trigger event, such as an IPO or acquisition.
The investment also comes with various perks, depending on the amount committed. For example, if you invest more than $1,000, then you will get eight free Choose Health internal health kits, one free personalized consultation with a physician and a mention on the company website.
Of course, this venture does have considerable risks. It is still very much in the early stages and the competitive environment is intense, with various well-funded players in the market. Moreover, the regulatory requirements are quite rigorous.
So before making an investment, it’s important to do your own analysis and make sure it meets your diversification needs.
Tom Taulli (@ttaulli) is an advisor/board member for startups and author of various books and online courses about technology, including Artificial Intelligence Basics, The Robotic Process Automation Handbook and Learn Python Super Fast. He is also the founder of WebIPO, which was one of the first platforms for public offerings during the 1990s. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
Investing through equity and real estate crowdfunding or asset tokenization requires a high degree of risk tolerance. Despite what individual companies may promise, there’s always the chance of losing a portion, or the entirety, of your investment. These risks include:
1) Greater chance of failure
2) Risk of fraudulent activity
3) Lack of liquidity
4) Economic downturns
5) Dearth of investor education
Read more: Private Investing Risks
