Kinsa raises $17m to expand smart health tool range
San Francisco-based healthtech firm Kinsa has raised $17m in a funding round led by GSR Ventures, FirstMark Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers. Kinsa has developed a suite of smartphone-connected thermometers that are sold online and in stores such as Target and CVS across the US. The latest round brings total funding for the company to $28.6m and the money will be used to develop additional smart services and products. Among Kinsa's plans for the future are the development of real-time fever guidance, medication reminders and connections to physicians.

Smart thermometer maker Kinsa has raised $17 million in a round led by GSR Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, and FirstMark Capital. This brings the company’s total funding to $28.6 million.

Kinsa, which received FDA clearance for its smartphone-connected thermometer in 2014, said it will use the latest funding to develop additional smart products and services to the Kinsa line.

“With this investment, Kinsa is excited to expand our services so we can take a big step forward in our mission to keep families and communities healthy,” explained Kinsa Founder and CEO Inder Singh said in a statement.

Kinsa has been on a steady pace of expansion since first releasing its smartphone-connected Smart Stick thermometer almost three years ago. The company’s suite of smart thermometers are now sold online and in more than 7,000 retail stores, like Target and CVS, across the country. Last summer, Kinsa scored a big kid-friendly partner in Sesame Street’s Sesame Workshop to offer a redesigned version of the smart thermometer that looks like Elmo, and just a couple of weeks ago, Teladoc began incorporating Kinsa’s connected thermometer into their telemedicine offerings. The Teladoc app automatically detects the Kinsa app on the user’s smartphone, allowing them to incorporate thermometer readings straight into their health record.

“Kinsa sits at the intersection of healthcare, technology and the ‘internet of things’ movement,” GSR Ventures Managing Director Richard Lim said in a statement. “We see tremendous potential in Kinsa’s vision to offer users additional health services through their products and are excited to lead this investment.”

As the company grows, Kinsa wants to take action to increase app engagement and communication with their users to better track and stop the spread of illness. New features like wellness tips, real-time fever guidance, medication reminders, local health information and connections to physicians are all part of that plan.

“From the start, our vision has been to use connected health products to engage with people the moment they fall ill, helping them get better and stay well,” Singh said in a statement. “We’re thrilled that the success of our Smart Thermometers has allowed us to reach this inflection point.”