Together with my fabulous partner, Samuel Rohr, we created an investment thesis on the health and wellness space for GoingVC, specifically the nutrition, fitness, and mental health verticals. Take a look and see what you think!

1. Health and
Wellness Tech
Roger Kuo and Sam Rohr
GoingVC, Cohort 6
May 31, 2020

2. Overview

3. Health and Wellness Overview
• Overview
• Health and wellness can broken down into two categories:
physical health and mental health. For purposes of the thesis,
we separated physical health into two sub-categories: nutrition
and fitness
• Millennials and Gen Z are more focused on health than any of
the previous generations with the current wellness market
valued at $32 billion
• There has been a serious proliferation of luxury gyms and
fitness studios such as Equinox and Soul Cycle
• Peloton has revolutionized home fitness with their live at-home
classes and ability to compete with others around the world.
Other tech companies followed suit with fitness companies
such as Aaptiv making personal training more accessible with
unlimited audio-based classes by personal trainers
• Growth Outlook and Key Drivers
• Mental health is the next big market segment to explode.
Companies like Calm and Headspace have only attacked a
segment leaving notable whitespace
• Given the huge impact Coronavirus has had on the food
supply chain and as people shy away from group fitness, we
foresee an increasing long-term shift to alternatives such as
lab-grown foods and in-home fitness solutions
• Due to the pandemic and resulting home confinement, people
are increasing feeling more anxiety, depression, and grief. This
has a resulted in an increase of mental health solutions (such
as apps and platforms) and companies offering wellness
solutions to their employees
Health And Wellness Exits Over Time
42
60
78
65
81
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
COVID-19 Impact on the U.S.
72%
Say it has disrupted
their lives
74%
Say the worst is yet to
come
39%
Have lost jobs
79%
Worry it will trigger a
recession
45%
Say it has negatively
impacted mental health
82%
Fear the healthcare
system will be overrun
___________________________
1. Venture Scanner, 2020.
2. Whitestar Venture Capital, 2020.

4. Health and Wellness Overview (continued)
• Venture Funding
• Health and wellness has been a tech trend that has attracted copious amounts of venture capital
• The health technology industry has seen $95B in all-time funding through Q3 2019. Specifically during this period, the Nutrition
category received ~$4 billion in funding(1), and the Mobile Fitness/Health Apps category received ~$2.5 billion(1). In 2018 alone, the
Mental Health category received ~$800 million in funding(2)
• Health technology exit activity showed strong growth from 2015 to 2017, and then achieved a record year in 2019 at 81 exits(1)
Funding DataEntrepreneurial Activity
607
820
641
295
122
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
$751
$428 $478
$699
$1,380
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
___________________________
1. Venture Scanner, 2020.
2. Whitestar Venture Capital, 2020.
($ millions)Number of Companies Founded

5. Nutrition

6. The Problem
• Health
• Soda is the new Tobacco. Sugar is one of the biggest health issues of our time. 1/3 of American children are considered
obese(1)
• Many alcoholic beverages (including traditional wines and aperitifs) contain high-levels of sugar, which is associated with numerous
health risks
• 80% of the antibiotics in the U.S. are used for farm animals(2)
• Sustainability / Food Insecurity
• Global population is forecast to grow from 7.3 to 9.7 billion by 2050(1)
• Six in Seven people to consume 3000 calories by 2030(1)
• In 2017 around 800 million people worldwide suffered from hunger(3)
• One-third of global food production – 2.9 trillion pounds of food – is lost in the agricultural chain. In the U.S. alone, the cost
is $160 billion annually(2)
• Food production will continue to be vulnerable to the impacts of rising global temperatures, with water stress and drought becoming
more common
• Population growth (as well as biofuel use) means world demand for staple crop products will grow by 60% from 2010 to 2050, and
current production methods are unable to support future demand (2)
• By 2050, global protein demand will increase by 80% over today’s levels, and traditional advancements won’t be up to the yield
challenge(2)
• Due to health/sustainability reasons, consumer tastes have shifted from traditional to alternative milks and meats
• However, almond milk (the largest alternative milk category by a very wide margin) uses large amounts of water and
pesticides to produce, and is a poor source of protein, fat, and nutrients
• Dairy is still very much part of the majority of people’s diet. From anecdotal evidence, cheese seems to be the one thing
people feel like they can’t give up. Everyone loves dairy but loathes the downsides of animal agriculture
• Animal agriculture (primarily dairy and meat) is a bigger driver of global climate change than exhaust emissions from the
entire transportation sector(3)
• Conventional meat production uses nearly a third of all water used for agriculture(3)
Nutrition
___________________________
1. FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2018.
2. Accenture Food Review, 2019.
3. Good Food Institute, 2019.

7. Sugar Consumption Breakdown(2)
The Problem (continued)
Nutrition
14.5% 14.0% 13.5% 13.0% 12.5% 11.8% 11.6% 11.0% 10.8% 10.7% 10.6% 10.7% 10.8% 10.9%
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Percentage of Undernourished People in the World
World Undernourishment(1)
46%
4%
8%
1%6%
1%
31%
1%
2%
Sugary Drinks Dairy
Grains Fruits and Fruit Juice
Mixed Dishes Alcohol
Snacks and Sweets Vegetables
U.S. Sugar Consumption(3)
___________________________
1. U.N. Food and Agricultre Organization, 2020.
2. Healthy Food America, 2020.
3. Whole Health Source, 2020.

8. The Solution
• Health
• As soda continues to decline in appeal and sugar becomes one of the biggest health issues of our time, there is a clear opportunity
to build relevant brand offerings that suit the shifting preference of the modern consumer
• As consumer needs have shifted, much of the beverage market has moved towards healthier alternatives (Spiked seltzer, which
realized volume growth of ~170% between 2017 and 2018 is a strong example that consumers are looking for healthier alternatives
to traditional alcoholic beverages)(1)
• Plant-based meat does not contain soy, gluten, grains, additives, antibiotics, or GMOs; and avoids the growing prevalence of soy
and wheat-based allergies. It is also kosher, nutrient-rich, high in protein, and has a familiar texture and taste(2)
• Sustainability
• Cow-free dairy is cruel-free, sustainable, hormone/antibiotic/allergy free, and has a scalable process(3)
• Plant-based meat production causes 30 to 90% less greenhouse gas emissions than conventional meat production, with median
savings of 88.5%(4)
• Plant-based meat uses 72 to 99% less water than conventional production, with median savings of 95.5%(4)
Nutrition
___________________________
1. Nielsen, 2019.
2. Plantcraft.com, 2020.
3. Legendairyfoods, 2020.
4. Good Food Institute, 2020.
U.S. Plant Based Milk Sales Plant-Based Options as a % of Total
$1.8
$1.9
$2.0
2017 2018 2019
Average
Growth
Rate: 7%
14% 2% 1%
13%
Plant Based Milk as
a % of Total
Plant Based Meat as
a % of Packaged
Meat
Plant Based Meat as
a % of Retail Meat
$12 billion
Opportunity in
Retail Meat

9. Potential Investments
Nutrition
Company Description(1) Investors and
Capital Raised(1)
TAM
• Iris Nova, located in NYC,
was founded in 2015 and sells
non-alcoholic healthy, modern
beverages direct to
consumers via SMS ordering
• Est. 1 – 10 employees
• Raised $15.1 million
seed round from Coca-
Cola CVC in Dec 2018
• Non-Alcoholic drink market revenue
amounts to $1.017 billion in 2020.
The market is expected to grow
annually by 9.3% CAGR from 2020-
2023. Soft drinks have a market
volume of $646.6 billion in 2020(2)
• Haus, located in Nashville,
was founded in 2018 and
produces and sells low ABV
organic alcoholic beverages
direct to consumers
• Est. 1 – 10 employees
• Raised $4.5 million
seed round led by
Homebrew, Haystack
Ventures in Jan 2020
• Global alcoholic beverage market
was $1.44 billion in 2017. Expected
to reach $1.68 billion by 2025, with
2.0% CAGR from 2018 to 2025.
Aperitif sales rose 7% in 2018 from
prior year(3)
• Legendairy Foods, located in
Germany, was founded in
2018 and produces real dairy
products - without cows
• Est. 1 – 10 employees
• Raised $4.7 million
seed round led by
Agronomics, Merck in
Dec 2019
• Global dairy milk market was valued
at $673.8 billion in 2018 (expected to
reach $1.03 trillion by 2024, with 8%
CAGR from 2019 to 2024)(4)
• Plantcraft, located in
Germany, was founded in
2018 and produces a range of
clean-label plant-based deli
meats
• Est. 1 – 10 employees
• Raised $550 thousand
seed round in Dec
2019 led by X-
Ventures
• Plant-based meat market is
estimated to be $12.1 billion in 2020.
Expected to reach $27.9 billion with
15% CAGR by 2026.(5) Pea-based
meat market alone is estimated at
10.5% CAGR during this period(6)
___________________________
1. Crunchbase, 2020.
2. Statista, 2019.
3. Reuters, 2019.
4. CNBC, 2019.
5. Markets and Markets, 2019.
6. Global Market Insights, 2019.

10. Fitness

11. The Problem
Recent reports project that by 2030, half of all adults (115 million adults) in the United States will be obese. Projections estimate that by 2018,
obesity will cost the U.S. 21% of our total healthcare costs - $344 billion annually(1)
100 million Americans have poor sleep. Despite $50 billion spent on sleep solutions each year, it costs us $411 billion as a society - from
increased sickness, chronic disease, accidents and productivity losses(2)
Fitness Programs
• Most people join a gym, then quit 3 months later; or don’t have the requisite willpower to maintain a fitness routine
• Regular personal trainers cost lots of money and require trips to the gym to workout with them
• Most fitness apps/programs lack emotional support, which is a severe disadvantage for a lifestyle change (AI trainers like Freeletics can’t
make you feel guilty or inspired the same way. Lose It and MyFitnessPal can get fellow trainees to badger you, but people don’t obey peers
like a they do a respected trainer)
• Most fitness apps only have a few trainers or programs. Thus, users get bored quickly
Wellness Programs
• Work naturally creates stress. If left unaddressed, office productivity suffers in addition to increased healthcare costs
• Remote teams lack connection and engagement to the rest of the company, resulting in decreased morale
• High increases in prevalence of chronic diseases due to sedentary work and lifestyle
Exercise Equipment
• Most exercise equipment is noisy, obtrusive, unattractive, and lack motivating elements (except Peloton) such as competition, community,
feedback, gamification, customization
• Some exercise equipment (such as treadmills) are high-impact, thereby increasing joint strain
Sleep Disorders
• 100 million Americans struggle with their sleep due to disorders like apnea and insomnia, as well as personal habits, lifestyle and
environmental factors. Most people have multiple root causes making it difficult to find the right solution(2)
• Existing solutions do not always provide evidence-based recommendations, customization, or actionable plans
• Lack of convenient and usable sleep technology (most devices have wires/attachments that can get tangled up in during sleep)
Fitness
___________________________
1. HHS, 2020.
2. Beddr, 2020.

12. The Solution
Fitness Programs
• The fittest people and professional athletes rely on personal trainers to make all the workout plans and force them to do them. Home gyms
or apps full of pre-made exercises aren’t enough. They need someone to keep them accountable
• Reducing churn is key to the success of fitness apps. Future Fit assigns you an actual human trainer who builds personalized
workout plans and messages you throughout the day to make sure you’re doing them. It even gives you an Apple Watch to track
your activity and ensure you’re not lying (95% of users stuck with it for three months, and 85% kept training for six months. That’s
unheard of in fitness tech)
• Fitness apps of the future should focus on helping users learn to like physical activity for what it is, perhaps by offering more trainers and
program personalization options (research shows fitness apps are more effective when personalized)
Wellness Programs
• Consumers will continue to seek ways to improve their diets to manage health and wellness, to counteract escalating obesity and non-
communicable diseases. Digital platforms and apps help them manage these
• Digital workplace wellness solutions also enhance workplace productivity, extend company culture to remote teams, reduce healthcare
costs, boost morale through community-driven experiences, reduce stress and increase engagement (a Harvard study found that employee
absenteeism costs fall by $2.73 for every dollar spent on company wellness programs)(2)
Exercise Equipment
• Modern fitness equipment should help users stay engaged and accountable with competitive workouts, gamification and real-time feedback
— all calibrated to the user’s fitness profile
• It should also be slim, unobtrusive, quiet and be a welcome addition to anyone’s home
Sleep Disorders
• Most people do not have access to insights on their sleep quality or how to improve it. A comprehensive approach gets to the ground truth
with clinically accurate data and easy access to experts trained to help everyone find their best sleep
• Personalized plan - from behavior and lifestyle changes to screening for disorders and seeking timely care, to effective management of
prescribed therapy
• Sleep tech devices should be unobtrusive, help regulate the consumers temperature and provide clinical grade data in identifying and fixing
sleep disorders
Fitness
___________________________
1. Techcrunch, 2019.
2. Grandview Research, 2019.

13. Potential Investments
Fitness
Company Description(1) Investors and Capital
Raised(1)
TAM
• Future Fit, located in San
Francisco, was founded in
2017, and provides one-on-
one fitness coaching and
nutrition app with personal
trainers
• Est 11 – 50 employees
• Raised $11.5 million total from
Kleiner Perkins, Founders
Fund, and Khosla Ventures.
Last series A round of $8.5
million in May 2019
• Global fitness app market size
was valued at $3.15 billion in
2019 and is estimated to grow
annually at 26.2% CAGR from
2020-2026(2)
• Fitspot, located in New York,
and founded in 2014, is a
centralized hub for digital
wellness experiences for
companies and properties
• Est 11 – 50 employees
• Raised $3.4 million seed
round from Techstarts, Tech
Coast Angels, Gambit
Ventures in Jul 2016
• Global workplace wellness
market was valued at $46.08
billion in 2018 and is expected
to reach $74.00 billion by
2026, registering a CAGR of
6.9% from 2019 to 2026(3)
• Ergatta, located in New York,
and founded in 2019, is a
modern rowing machine and
game-based rowing workouts
and competition against other
rowers
• Est 1 – 10 employees
• Pre-seed. Went through
Techstar Sports Accelerator in
Indy in Jun 2019
• Global fitness equipment
market is anticipated to reach
$13.24 billion by 2022, with a
3.6% CAGR from 2016 to
2022(4)
• Beddr, located in Siicon
Valley, was founded in 2016,
provides better sleep health
via coaching and hardware
• Est 11 – 50 employees
• Raised $5.6 million total from
Three Leaf Ventures and
Stanford Start X Fund in Jul
2018
• Sleep Tech Devices
market size exceeded $9
billion in 2018 and is set to
achieve over 16% CAGR up
to 2025(5)
___________________________
1. Crunchbase, 2020.
2. Polaris Market Research, 2019.
3. Allied Market Research, 2019.
4. Grandview Research, 2019.
5. GM Insights, 2019.

14. Mental Health

15. The Problem
• Social media platforms have provided an
unprecedented level of connection between human
beings. However, they have also caused
unprecedented mental health issues
• There are over 2 billion people are on Facebook
and still…
• 68% want deeper relationships not more friends
• 75% of Americans not satisfied with relationships(1)
• Social Media Sucks:
• More people rely on social media for connection
instead of meeting in person causing introversion
• When people are together, they spend time on
social media instead of each other
• Increased anxiety and stressed caused by
constant need to be connected
• Depression
• One out of six people are on anti-depressants
• One out of four women are on anti-depressants
% of People Reporting Good Mental Health(2)
74%
70%
56%
51%
45%
Older Adults
Boomers
Millenials
Gen X
Gen Z
___________________________
1. Psychology Today, 2020.
2. American Psychological Association, 2019.
% of People Who Received Mental Health Help(2)
15%
22%
26%
35%
37%
Older Adults
Boomers
Gen X
Millenials
Gen Z
Mental Health

16. The Solution
• There are numerous solution to mitigate the damage caused by the social media infused mental
health crisis
• Therapy(1)
• Going to see a therapist is one of the leading solutions to mental health issues. As we evaluated the therapy market, we found that
many health insurance companies did not provide adequate coverage for mental health
• Finding the right therapist for you and the mental situation you are in is crucial to receiving the right treatment
• Meditation(2)
• Meditation has become a far more prevalent treatment for mental health issues boosted by the popularity of experts like Deepak
Chopra and Eckhart Tolle. In 2018, 22% of employers were expected to offer mindfulness training
• Over the past 20 years, meditation and mindfulness-based programs have become increasingly important to Westerners. Doctors
are embracing meditation not because they think it's hip or cool, but because scientific studies are beginning to show that it works,
particularly for stress-related conditions
• Online Therapy(3)
• Some individuals prefer to see a real person to talk through their issues. For those who do not, online therapy or AI/ML powered
therapy is a
• Companies such as Spring Health have built products which acknowledge the unique needs of each person
• By applying the same scientific principles behind precision medicine to mental healthcare, companies can accurately predict the
right treatment to the right person at the right time, and ultimately accelerate recovery
• Modified Gaming / Learning(4)
• At this point, it is almost inevitable that children will play some form of video game as they grow up
• The games that they play are generally purposeless and do not progress the child's learning in any particular way
• Using these games to help a child manage emotions will serve them well as they continue to mature
Mental Health
___________________________
1. Headway, 2020.
2. MarketResearch, 2020.
3. Spring Health, 2020.
4. The Wall Street Journal, 2020.

17. Potential Investments
Company Description(1) Investors and Capital
Raised(1)
TAM
• Headway is based in New
York and is a developer of a
health insurance advisory
platform designed to connect
with therapists and submit
insurance claims online
• Est. 11 – 50 employees
• Raised an undisclosed
amount from the Fund in
September of 2018 for its
seed round. Per my contacts,
more recently raised money
from Accel
• The behavioral therapy
market in the U.S. was valued
at $8.8 billion and is expected
to grow at a rate of 3.7%
going forward(2)
• Mightier, founded in 2016, is
based in Boston and is a
gaming platform scientifically-
proven to help kids regulate
their emotions
• Est. 11 – 50 employees
• The company has raised
$10.3 million in funding over
the five rounds. The most
recent of which was a $250
thousand corporate round led
by MTG Group
• The U.S gaming market was
valued at $17.6 billion in 2017
and is expected to grow to
$20.5 billion by 2022,
registering a CAGR of 3.9%(3)
• Wave Meditation founded in
2018, is based in New York,
and is a music-guided at-
home meditation app
• Est. 1 – 10 employees
• The company raised $5.7
million in funding in a July
2019 seed round led by Lerer
Hippeau
• The U.S. meditation market
was valued at $959 million in
2015 and is projected to grow
to $2.1 billion by 2020
registering a CAGR of
11.4%(4)
• Spring Health, founded in
2016, is based in New York
and uses AI to help patients
with mental health problems
to feel better
• Est. 11 – 50 employees
• The company raised a total of
$30 million over three rounds.
The most recent raise was a
$22 million series A led by
Northzone in January of 2020
• The behavioral therapy
market in the U.S. was valued
at $8.8 billion and is expected
to grow at a rate of 3.7%
going forward(2)
Mental Health
___________________________
1. CrunchBase, 2020.
2. IBISWorld, 2020.
3. Statista, 2020.
4. MarketResearch, 2020.

18. Conclusion

19. Company Industry(1) Description Investors and Capital
Raised(1)
Fitness
• Aaptiv is a digital health company that
provides audio workouts led by
professional trainers spanning every
type of exercise
• The company last raised a $22
million series C round led by
Millennium Technology Value
Partners in June of 2018
Mental Health
• Calm offers an application designed to
help its users meditate and relax
• The company last raised a $27
million series B round led by
Lightspeed Venture Partners in
July of 2019
Nutrition
• Noom provides mobile health coaching,
focused on combating chronic and pre-
chronic conditions such as obesity,
diabetes and hypertension
• The company last raised a $58
million series E round led by
Sequoia in May of 2019
Fitness
• WHOOP is the performance
optimization system that helps elite
athletes and teams win
• The company most recently
raised a $55 million series c
led by Foundry Group in
November of 2019
Notable Health and Wellness Fundings
___________________________
1. CrunchBase, 2020.
• The health and wellness tech space is ripe for investment. The space has numerous target markets all of which
have large addressable markets and significant pain points
• The COVID-10 pandemic creates a new set of challenges for every industry. Many companies in this space are well
positioned to realize real success through the pandemic, a few of which have been listed below