Epicore Biosystems, a digital health solutions company, announces that it has closed an oversubscribed $10M Series A investment round. This investment results from growing interest in Epicore’s wearable microfluidic products and analytic solutions, which have been deployed by leading Fortune 50 companies as demand for personalized Hydration and metabolic monitoring intensifies. Initially spun out of Northwestern University’s Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Epicore has developed a proprietary wearable “skin-like” microfluidic patch designed to capture eccrine sweat and offer real-time insights through its biochemical-sensing platform.
Epicore will use the new investment capital to scale its suite of wearable products, expand its analytics and cloud services, and accelerate the growth of its customer base internationally. The Series A investment positions Epicore to build on the recent momentum garnered from its first-to-market products to become the commercial leader in personalized Hydration and metabolic health in the U.S. and globally.
New investors include Chevron Technology Ventures, Alumni Ventures, and seed investor Joyance Partners, joining Epicore’s longstanding list of strategic backers and customers, including PepsiCo, the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, National Institutes Health, and NextFlex.
The Epicore Biosystems Metabolic Health Ecosystem
Gx Sweat Patch
Results in a snapshot — Single-use patch with real-time hydration and nutrition feedback
In March 2021, Epicore launched its first commercial sports hydration product with PepsiCo and Gatorade, the Gx Sweat Patch. This first-to-market wearable pairs with the Gx mobile app to provide athletes with personalized, real-time hydration recommendations to help drive performance. The Gx Sweat Patch is a skin-like, wearable patch with an easy-to-use software app to provide real-time and customized recommendations for athletes to hydrate and refuel after exercise optimally. Two microchannels capture sweat throughout the exercise and provide colorimetric real-time feedback on sweat rate and sodium composition.
In partnership with Gatorade, Epicore has developed algorithms within the Gatorade Gx iOS app to enable real-time performance insights and individualized recommendations. These algorithms and recommendations build on extensive research, including a large-scale study tracking athletic performance and sweat. The goal is to empower athletes to track their workouts and view their real-time sweat profiles and nutritional guidance.Â
Discovery Patch® Sweat Collection System Â
Deep biomarker analytics — Nutrition, Hydration, stress, and metabolic health biomarkers in clinical research
Epicore is also actively deploying its first medical product in remote clinical research trials to analyze sweat biomarkers for pharmaceutical, military, sports & fitness, and food & beverage applications. The Discovery Patch Sweat Collection System facilitates advancements in sweat biomarker research by providing accessible and hassle-free collection. The Discovery Patch is a single-use, flexible wearable microfluidic patch designed to be soft and compatible for wear on the skin.
The Discovery Patch design includes:
- A patterned adhesive used to adhere to the skin surface
- A sweat inlet at the base of the patch where sweat enters the microchannels
- A network of microchannels where sweat travels through the patch and becomes retained
- Volume tick marks used for estimating fill volume extent
- Sweat is transferred from the patch to clean lab storage containers through an extraction port, rapidly collecting and preparing sweat samples for analysis.
The Discovery Patch allows for regional sweat capture and analysis placement at various anatomical areas. As the wearer begins to sweat, tick marks printed on the right edge of the patch show the extent of sweat filling. The Epicore Discovery Patch System is registered with the FDA as a Class I device. For more information on the system and its use, download the Instructions for Use.
Discovery Patch images reference
Connected Hydration Â
Continuous monitoring — Real-time alerts and hydration recommendations
Connected Hydration is an advanced wearable tracker that continuously monitors sweat volume loss, electrolyte loss, body temperature, and body movement. The individual user’s physiology provides heat injury alerts when a user has exceeded a pre-determined threshold of sweat loss. Dehydration has been shown to contribute to cognitive and physical performance deficits and reduced work capacity.
Epicore also conducted a trial in May 2021 with Chevron Technology Ventures to deploy wireless sweat patches to monitor the hydration of workers facing increased risk of heat stress.
Wearable sensor technology to track dehydration and heat stress in field settings provides real-time health and safety metrics for the workforce. Our recent proof-of-concept field study with Epicore Biosystems helped us evaluate the technology and its potential to transform workplace safety. This is the latest investment in our Core Energy Fund, which focuses on operational enhancement, digitalization, and lower carbon business solutions.
Barbara Burger, Vice President of Innovation and President of Technology Ventures for Chevron
Connected Hydration works in the background by continuously monitoring sweat dynamics and biomarkers, providing alerts and recommendations on fluid and electrolyte intake to replenish based on that individual’s needs. The data and recommendations collectively guide behavioral strategies to help keep users well hydrated to mitigate the risk of heat injury.
We have been closely collaborating with our customers and clinical partners to capture health insights that go beyond the traditional biometrics – like steps and heart rate and heart rate variability – by tapping into a rich, new source of data gleaned from tiny droplets of sweat. Onboarding this established group of investors and partners will help propel our efforts to revolutionize personalized recovery and metabolic health management.
Dr. Roozbeh Ghaffari CEO and co-founder of Epicore Biosystems.
There is a clear consensus among industry leaders and researchers that technology will improve health outcomes and increase care access. Additionally, these technologies are benefitting the patient experience and increasing patient confidence. Digital health tools that facilitate innovative methods and modalities to improve care, enable lifestyle change, and create efficiencies are progressing quickly. The novel ways health care organizations deliver interventions using digital technology results in new forms of engagement. Driving adoption today will pave the way for more widespread uptake of future smart technologies.
About Epicore Biosystems
Epicore Biosystems is a privately held digital health solutions company spun out of the Querrey-Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics at Northwestern University. It has established partnerships with Fortune 100 companies, the Department of Defense, and leading research hospitals to drive personalized care with its proprietary wearable microfluidic products.
About Chevron Technology Ventures
Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV) pursues externally developed technologies and new business solutions that have the potential to enhance the way Chevron produces and delivers affordable, reliable, and ever-cleaner energy.
About Alumni Ventures
Alumni Ventures is a network-powered venture capital firm. Its network is the source of capital ($900M+ money raised) and differentiation.
