Robin Health, a healthtech start-up focused on prevention and digital health management, announces that it has closed a €2 million pre-seed round led by Step Fund, a EuVECA Pir Alternative Compliant fund with global ambitions focused on seed-stage investments in Italy. The transaction marks the start of investment activity for the new vehicle dedicated to Italian high-tech start-ups.
Step Fund is managed by Alternative Capital Partners SGR, an Italian asset management company that has already launched and manages FIA with an innovative, thematic and sustainable approach. It is promoted by a team of entrepreneurs and investors with over twenty years of international experience who have been working together for more than ten years: Maria Imbesi, Roberto Montandon, Michele Novelli and Gennaro Tesone have founded, grown and sold technology companies in Europe, supporting over 100 start-ups and achieving strategic exits with significant returns with global operators such as Xerox, Telefonica, Klarna, +Simple, Blackstone and TripAdvisor.
The Step team knows Robin Health’s founders, Giacomo De Lorenzo, Michele Giannotta and Nicholas Parini (pictured), serial entrepreneurs for almost a decade, having already shared their previous entrepreneurial journey with them, which culminated in the exit of the start-up Moneymour, acquired by Klarna in 2020. The founders subsequently held key roles in the international expansion of the Swedish unicorn, contributing to the development of products, technologies and markets on a global scale.
Excess weight, in the form of obesity and overweight, is one of the most significant global health challenges. By 2035, over four billion people, or approximately 51% of the world’s population, will be living with this condition, with an estimated economic impact of £4.32 trillion per year globally (source: Worldobesity). This growing pressure is putting strain on healthcare systems, welfare models and economic sustainability around the world.
Specifically, in Italy, an estimated 64,000 deaths per year are attributable to obesity, 10% of total mortality, due to over 200 chronic diseases related to it (source: Epicentro). Its economic impact is equally significant: these diseases absorb approximately 9% of the National Health Service budget, equal to 13.3 billion euro per year, a cost that doubles when considering the indirect effects linked to absenteeism and reduced productivity.
Robin Health was founded with the aim of redefining the daily management of obesity and overweight through a preventive, personalised and data-driven approach. The platform integrates behavioural, biometric and clinical data into an immediate user experience, transforming it into clear, ready-to-use information for healthcare professionals. Having consolidated this first vertical, the company aims to expand into other areas of health, with the ambition of becoming the go-to platform for ongoing health management.
The treatment of obesity is undergoing a radical transformation thanks to the introduction of GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs, which are redefining standards of care worldwide. It is estimated that the adoption of these therapies will grow exponentially, from approximately 10 million patients in 2024 to over 100 million by 2030. However, scientific evidence shows that active interaction with a digital platform can enhance the results of drug therapy alone by 53%, bringing average weight loss from 5.9% to 9.0% in the first three months (source: Jmir). In this scenario, the integration of a personalised digital pathway becomes a key element in ensuring the effectiveness of treatment.
There is growing attention towards health as an area of innovation, supported by significant investments in digital therapeutics and digital wellness platforms. This evolution is driven by demand from patients and healthcare professionals for more intuitive, personalised solutions that can be integrated into existing care processes. A clear sign of this is the launch of ChatGPT Health, which highlights how experiences that leverage data from wearables and clinical tools are becoming central to the evolution of the healthtech market.
Maria Imbesi, partner at Step Fund, says in a statement: “The combination of artificial intelligence and health is one of the segments with the greatest potential for venture capital in the coming years. In Italy, as in Europe, this market is still largely untapped, particularly in terms of prevention, but we are convinced that it will grow rapidly and we want to be at the forefront. AI makes a data-driven approach that offers patients a personalised pathway economically sustainable and enables new distribution models in a complex sector. In the field of prevention, the integration of patients’ physical parameters with intelligent systems is redefining both clinical outcomes and business models, enabling the emergence of B2C2B models in which patient-generated data becomes an active source of value for professionals, healthcare facilities and end users. Robin Health is a solid example of this evolution, which is why we have decided to invest in them through Step Fund.”
Giacomo De Lorenzo, co-founder of Robin Health, adds: “We often hear that we just need to eat less and exercise more, but obesity is a complex condition with genetic, hormonal and environmental causes. Today, we can finally treat it effectively, but the outcome depends on daily efforts. That is why we created Robin Health: a platform built with the active involvement of doctors and specialists that combines science, data and technology to provide continuous, personalised support to individuals.
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