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*Information and market statistics provided by Mordor Intelligence and the Center for Disease Control & Prevention (source / source)
The inception for Pops came about while the co-founders were on a fishing trip in Minnesota. We noticed Lonny (CEO and co-founder) struggling to check and manage his blood sugar as his co-founder reeled in a large walleye, which begged the question: “Why can’t I easily manage my diabetes and blood sugar while I am doing what I love?”
Immediately hooked on the idea, we created a simple, all-in-one glucose meter that connects wirelessly to the Pops app, enabling users to view trends at the touch of a button. Along with our virtual AI assistant, Mina, we are simplifying the ability to manage chronic conditions like diabetes.
The COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the awareness of self-care even more, with the global mobile health market currently valued at $56B and expected to grow at 30% CAGR through 2030 (source). Today, healthcare is happening at home, which is exactly why Pops strives to empower people living with diabetes to manage their condition - on their terms.
The Problem
One of the most frustrating and difficult challenges of diabetes is its relentlessness. It demands thoughtful attention to detail, structure, and constant monitoring, and all of those tasks fall solely on the shoulders of the person who suffers from diabetes. This nonstop series of stressors can lead to burnout and severe emotional distress.
Even though we live in a digital age, self-care for diabetes is still in its primitive stages. There is a stunning lack of diabetes management tools that integrate easily into our lives which makes the individual’s decision to self-manage their symptoms all the more exhausting to make.
The Solution
Pops offers one of the most discreet, easy-to-use diabetes management systems available today. Our service revolves around a personalized, app-based AI virtual assistant, Mina, who will remind you to check your blood sugar as needed, encourage you to be more active, and even make recommendations to help you Own Your Life®. Using a practice known as motivational interviewing, Mina can assist with changing healthcare behaviors and making condition management easier.
Our platform broadens connectivity and data sharing with loved ones and providers, with an innovative, cost-saving solution for clients, individuals, and the healthcare ecosystem.
Mina pairs wirelessly with the Pops Rebel Meter - an easy-to-use, discreet, smart-glucose meter that transforms the traditional test kit into one seamless meter that connects to the phone that you carry with you every day. With our all-in-one system, you can check your blood sugar on the go, ensuring your diabetes never slows you down. Around 20% the size of traditional meters, the Rebel requires no assembly and is less painful.
While Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGM) are gaining popularity, they are used by less than 10% of people with diabetes after being on the market for more than ten years.* The Pops Rebel will be a relevant advantage for many years to come, and eventually Mina will evolve to incorporate CGM data.
*Information based on internal research using analyses such as this update from Dexcom (source)
The third part of the simple self-care platform is our ecosystem partner organizations, curated to eliminate the barriers of why someone will not manage their condition. With Mina at the center directing traffic, these partnerships were developed to make life simpler for a person with diabetes or another chronic condition. The Pops ecosystem includes a variety of partners and continues to grow.
Pops sells access to the platform as a subscription service, both direct-to-consumer and business-to-business through clients like Best Buy Health and Zurich Insurance Group.
For B2B, we are targeting the growing digital healthcare environment by selling to consumer health, alternative primary care, and tele-health organizations. For B2B, we are targeting the growing digital healthcare environment by selling to consumer health, alternative primary care, and tele-health organizations. These three target market categories have many companies to whom Pops can sell our consumer-focused digital health platform to complement their existing technology.
Our competitors (e.g. Livongo, Omada, and Onduo) are Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) companies using live coaches. While they are indeed remotely managing patients, Pops is enabling people to take care of themselves. The clients we are targeting don’t want live coaching, they want digital solutions to manage their chronic conditions like diabetes.
Beyond diabetes, Pops has an established software platform that can scale to incorporate other chronic conditions that would benefit from our self-care ecosystem. We plan to use a portion of the funds from this raise to expand the platform into conditions related to diabetes including weight control, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
Sources: Hypertension / Diabetes / Hyperlipidemia / Obesity
THE TRACTION
We are FDA-cleared, TGA-cleared, CE-marked, and in-use across all 50 states and in Australia. Pops is sold as a subscription service to clients and individuals, with a whopping 986% revenue growth from Q4 2021 through Q4 2020, and a 93% average quarter-over-quarter growth throughout 2021.
We have also secured agreements with multiple corporations including Best Buy, Zurich Insurance Group, and Medline where Pops will be offered as the diabetes solution in their healthcare offering.
Pops has been proven as a safe, accurate, and effective tool to manage diabetes. A recent peer-reviewed study in the International Journal of Digital Health showed people who used the Pops Self-care platform to manage their diabetes had a significant 1.3 point drop (17% improvement) in A1c, the clinical measure of blood sugar.
Currently, we have 15 issued patents with another 7 pending patents. Pops has also signed agreements with a variety of ecosystem partners to further simplify the lives of Pops users.
*These testimonials may not be representative of the experience of other customers and is not a guarantee of future performance or success.
The market
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 37.3 million Americans, or about 1 in 10 people, have diabetes, 20% of which are believed to be unaware of their condition (source).
An additional 96 million Americans are estimated to have pre-diabetes, a less severe classification with equally important risk factors to monitor. (source)
In 2021, the US diabetes devices market was valued at $18 billion (source). Despite the market size, many living with diabetes find the management of their blood sugar to be cumbersome with the currently available solutions. Today’s test kits and diabetes services do not fit well with people’s active and fast-paced lives.
The market becomes even larger with the diabetes-related conditions of weight, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia that the Pops platform is expanding to address.
Pops is trailblazing this emerging field of at-home healthcare management and self-care tools. People don’t need to wait to be taken care of like a patient. With Mina and the Pops ecosystem, we are solving these daily challenges, providing meaningful education and guidance for people to manage their diabetes on-the-go.
Pops has reached more than 10,000 followers on social media and 10,000 visits per month to its website, evidence that there is consumer interest in self-care.
Why invest
Pops was founded to put simple technology in people’s hands to enable them to Own Their Life®. Our revolutionary platform is clinically proven to improve the management of diabetes, and we seek to continue our mission, providing people the ability to live life on their terms.
Help us empower millions of people living with chronic conditions and join the ground floor of an industry-defining endeavor by investing in Pops today.
The UpStart Entrepreneurs Redefining the American Dream
Pepperdine's Most Fundable Companies of 2018
POPS Diabetes Care Raises $1.2 Million for Blood-Glucose Testing
2020 List of the Hottest "Flyover Tech" Companies in Digital Health
March 2019, Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology
Zurich Australia partners with Pops Diabetes Care
Sustained Improvement of HbA1C in a Non-Randomized Trial Through Use of AI Virtual Health Assistant and Consumer Friendly Glucose Measurement for People with Diabetes
Vous Vitamin and Pops combine forces for blood sugar management
Pops AI Virtual Health Assistant and Glucometer Now Available at Best Buy
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Zurich pilots diabetes self-management health app
Health-Tech Startup POPS! Diabetes Care Closes on $6M
Pops Diabetes wins FDA clearance for blood glucose monitoring system
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POPS! Diabetes Care Announces FDA Clearance of Their POPS!® one System
Pops! Blood Glucose Monitoring System Gets FDA Approval
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Pops! Diabetes Care launches blood glucose monitoring system
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Pops! Diabetes Care Raises $1.2M In Latest Funding Round
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Zurich Australia partners with Pops Diabetes Care
Twin Cities-based Pops! Diabetes Care teams with Children's Minnesota to test diabetes device
Stillwater Startup Works to Improve Diabetes Care
Company | : | POPS! Diabetes Care, Inc. |
Corporate Address | : | 6770 Stillwater Blvd North, Suite 200, Minneapolis, MN 55082 |
Offering Minimum | : | $9,993.35 |
Offering Maximum | : | $2,558,988.59 |
Minimum Investment Amount(per investor) | : | $200.61 |
Offering Type | : | Equity |
Security Name | : | Series A-1 Preferred Stock |
Minimum Number of Shares Offered | : | 1,345 |
Maximum Number of Shares Offered | : | 344,413 |
Price per Share | : | $7.43 |
Pre-Money Valuation | : | $17,935,187.84 |
*Maximum number of shares offered subject to adjustment for bonus shares. See bonus info below.
Investment Incentives and Bonuses*
Time-Based Perks:
Super Early Bird: First 7 days
Invest within the first 7 days and receive 15% bonus shares.
Early Bird: Next 7 days
Invest within the next 7 days and receive 10% bonus shares.
Amount-Based Perks:
Tier 1 $1,000+
Invest $1,000 or more and receive 5% bonus shares.
Tier 2 $2,500+
Invest $2,500 or more and receive 10% bonus shares, an invite to Mina’s Studio, and a free 1-month trial access to the Pops Platform (free glucose meter, free 24 glucose tests, access to Mina coaching, access to Pops ecosystem, and $150 exclusive Pops partner discounts).
Tier 3 $5,000+
Invest $5,000 or more and receive 10% bonus shares, an invite to Mina’s Studio, a free 3-month trial access to the Pops Platform (free glucose meter, unlimited glucose testing, access to Mina coaching, access to Pops ecosystem, and $150 exclusive Pops partner discounts), and a quarterly CEO perspective on the business.
Tier 4 $10,000+
Invest $10,000 or more and receive 15% bonus shares, an invite to Mina’s Studio, a free 3-month trial access to the Pops Platform (free glucose meter, unlimited glucose testing, access to Mina coaching, access to Pops ecosystem, and $150 exclusive Pops partner discounts), and a quarterly CEO perspective on the business.
Tier 5 $25,000+
Invest $25,000 or more and receive 20% bonus shares, an invite to Mina’s Studio, a free 3-month trial access to the Pops Platform (free glucose meter, unlimited glucose testing, access to Mina coaching, access to Pops ecosystem, and $150 exclusive Pops partner discounts), a quarterly CEO perspective on the business, and a private call with CEO upon request.
*All perks occur when the offering is completed.
The 10% StartEngine Owners' Bonus*
POPS! Diabetic Care, Inc. will offer 10% additional bonus shares for all investments that are committed by investors that are eligible for the StartEngine Crowdfunding Inc. OWNer's bonus.
This means eligible StartEngine shareholders will receive a 10% bonus for any shares they purchase in this offering. For example, if you buy 100 shares of Series A-1 Preferred Stock at $7.43 / share, you will receive 10 additional shares of Series A-1 Preferred Stock, meaning you'll own 110 shares for $743. Fractional shares will not be distributed and share bonuses will be determined by rounding down to the nearest whole share.
This 10% Bonus is only valid during the investors' eligibility period. Investors eligible for this bonus will also have priority if they are on a waitlist to invest and the company surpasses its maximum funding goal. They will have the first opportunity to invest should room in the offering become available if prior investments are canceled or fail.
Investors will only receive a single bonus, which will be the highest bonus rate they are eligible for.
A crowdfunding investment involves risk. You should not invest any funds in this offering unless you can afford to lose your entire investment. In making an investment decision, investors must rely on their own examination of the issuer and the terms of the offering, including the merits and risks involved. These securities have not been recommended or approved by any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority. Furthermore, these authorities have not passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this document. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not pass upon the merits of any securities offered or the terms of the offering, nor does it pass upon the accuracy or completeness of any offering document or literature. These securities are offered under an exemption from registration; however, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has not made an independent determination that these securities are exempt from registration.
Pops tracks many leading edge operating metrics. The most important one for our mission is how often our platform impacts someone's life. In April 2022:
Pops helped someone change their life every 3.4 minutes
Other key metrics that show the growth and interest in Pops for April, 2022 are:
182,000 glucose tests completed
42,000 website views for an average of 4 minutes and 21 seconds
I hope these metrics help you see the interest in Pops and the real impact we are having on lives. Please consider investing in Pops to help use impact even more lives more often. Thanks for your consideration!
Lonny Stormo
Keeping our investors updated is one of our highest priorities. The trust the investors have shown in Pops is sacred to us, and I am regularly meeting, emailing, and talking with our investors to answer any questions they have. Below is the latest newsletter we sent out to investors. Please know that we will show that same respect to all StartEngine investors!
Enjoy! Lonny
Tim spent the past 34 years living near Stillwater, Minnesota and practicing Family Medicine there. He had a large panel of patients including one of Pops’ co-founders. During a routine patient visit several years ago, one of the co-founders informed Tim of his career change and the beginning of Pops. Tim was impressed with the presentation of the Pops Rebel meter and asked some medical questions. As Tim got closer to the team, Tim was further impressed by the AI/Mina feature and soon joined the Pops team as an advisory board member.
“Primary care has always been my passion. In addition to treating a wide variety of medical problems, teaching wellness and healthy living are very rewarding. Showing individuals how to manage diabetes is a large part of primary care. Pops fits that process well. I have cared for many people with diabetes over several decades and always felt there must be a better way (especially a more user-friendly way) to get the data needed by both the patient and the doctor to improve diabetes management. We needed a better mouse trap if you will, one that patients would use more consistently and more often. I immediately felt Pops provided the solution. The Rebel meter is small, fast, easy, and discreet. The Mina/AI feature provides as much analysis and guidance as an individual desires. This leads to better management and reduction of A1C."
Tim recently left his practice a year earlier than planned to take the role of CMO at Pops. “I am excited to devote more time to Pops. It feels like a natural transition from caring for many individuals to helping a large population with diabetes through Pops."
imaware (at-home blood testing service) is one of the ecosystem partners Pops has an agreement with to provide people with diabetes a simpler way to get their A1c and cholesterol tested right at home. Today, the companies started a joint social media awareness program by offering the following:
Pops and imaware have joined forces to bring you life-impacting health data in the form of imaware’s Baseline Heart Health test and Pops’ Rebel glucose meter (+ one month’s access to the Pops Self-Care Platform). Our goal is to bring heart health testing and management home, putting simple technology in your hands so you can #OwnYourLife.Five (5) lucky winners will be gifted the prize pack, head over to Instagram to enter: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc8Fbo5LJWV/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
You can hear from our CEO, Lonny Stormo, to get more insights into Pops' business plan and the digital health market. He also answers great questions from potential investors in this 45 minute webinar. Watch it now on Youtube at:
May 5, 2022 Minneapolis, MN: Pops announced today that it launched its new 1-month trial subscription on Amazon. This continues the shift of Pops' direct-to-consumer channel to subscription payment. "Pops has always sold the self-care platform in our B2B2C channel as a subscription service", said Lonny Stormo, CEO of Pops. "When we first started selling on Amazon last year, selling a subscription was not possible. Now we have innovated our software to enable selling a 1-month trial on Amazon followed by Mina prompting users to subscribe through Pops."
"We know consumers love to shop on trusted sites like Amazon and Best Buy, so this new customer acquisition strategy is a great way to on-ramp new users through a trusted source and have people follow up with a subscription once they get to know Pops", said Customer Success Director, Stephanie Toomey.
Pops, the Own Your Life® company, has commercialized an AI Self-care platform for chronic condition management, starting in the diabetes space.
DON'T FORGET: Join our CEO, Lonny Stormo, tomorrow, May 5 at 3:00 CST, for Pops' first StartEngine webinar to learn more insights into Pops, plans for the future, and to answer all of your questions. Register before the meeting occurs at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_n6wHbLd-SMS_jd2HRYEkTQ
You've seen him in our StartEngine video and on our page, so now get to know our co-founder and CEO, Lonny Stormo. Lonny's LinkedIn tagline says "a leader in democratizing healthcare", and that is the mission that created the pull to leave Medtronic to co-found Pops. "We have seen 'democratization through technology' happen in many other industries. I used go to my bank, and now I bank virtually. I used to go to a travel agent, and now I book travel myself. This happens over and over because it makes all the sense in the world to the consumer, and technology makes it possible. Now the same is happening in healthcare, and I wanted to accelerate that change."
Lonny built this philosophy during his 30 years at Medtronic, the world's largest medical device company, and 20+ years managing his own diabetes. Lonny, growing up on a farm in South Dakota and earning his BS in Electrical Engineering, soon found himself immersed in healthcare at Medtronic. Lonny says "I remember early in my career when my mentality shifted from being an employee to the company being my responsibility, and it changed the way I worked." That feeling continued as Lonny progressed in the ranks of Medtronic to lead a billion dollar business unit and win Medtronic's most coveted prize the The Wallin Leadership Award.
"I have humble beginnings and was blessed to find myself at Medtronic with all the opportunities it gave me", said Lonny. One of the best things Medtronic provided Lonny was the variety of experiences that prepared him for being a CEO of an early stage company. Lonny has been able to adeptly wear the many hats an early stage CEO has to wear each day from development to sales. Now Lonny is busy 24/7 scaling Pops and creating strategic relationships with corporations who will benefit from the early vision that created Pops.
Our CEO, Lonny Stormo, will be doing a live webinar for investors on May 6th at 3:00 CST. Please register in advance for this webinar to receive al ink for the meeting. Register by clicking on this link below. Join me now before our early investor incentives end!
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_n6wHbLd-SMS_jd2HRYEkTQ
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. See you Friday!!
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