Weight loss app company Noom Inc. prepares to launch an initial public offering (IPO), which could come early next year, sources told Reuters.
In the IPO, the platform could more than double its valuation from its most recent fundraising round this spring, when it which raised $540 million and Silver Lake valued the company at $3.7 billion
Noom has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc to lead preparations.
The subscription-based Noom weight management and fitness program, dubbed “Weight Watchers for millennials,” is an app-based method for tracking calories and activity. Users set a weight loss goal and then undertake a customized diet and exercise plan to attack that goal over a 16-week period, during which time they log their food consumption and exercise.
Noom users can also interact with other subscribers and have access to human and virtual coaches for individual instruction, using behavioral psychology and artificial intelligence.
The popularity of Noom and other weight loss apps continues to rise, despite a 2017 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that says almost 40 percent of American adults and nearly 20 percent of adolescents are obese — the highest rates in U.S. recorded history.
“By analyzing all types of user attitudes and behavior patterns, we help consumers embark on a weight loss journey that maximizes their chances for finding weight loss resolution success,” Dr. Andreas Michaelides, Noom’s chief of psychology, told PYMNTS earlier this year.
“We already know past behaviors and attitudes are strong indicators of what will happen in the future,” he said. “Using Big Data, we are now able to quantify the past in novel ways and help users change patterns to avoid the unique pitfalls that have prevented them from finding success.”
Noom has plans to expand beyond weight loss into stress management, sleep improvement and the management of health issues like high blood pressure and diabetes. The company presently works with individuals, but also has its sights set on widening its reach into corporate and health insurance firms.
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