Bauer Media, SparkLabs Invest in Swedish Digital App Lifesum
Bloomberg, April 14, 2014

Bauer Media Group and SparkLabs Global Ventures led a $6.7 million investment in Swedish digital health startup Lifesum, which helps users count calories and lose weight, the companies said today.

Stockholm-based Lifesum has more than 4 million registered members for its app which helps users set health-eating plans and track exercise. The investment is one of the biggest first rounds of financing in Europe this year, the company said. Hamburg-based Bauer publishes more than 600 magazines including InTouch, Cosmopolitan and Shape. SparkLabs is a new seed-stage investment fund.

Lifesum is following other Swedish startups including music-streaming service Spotify and gaming app Stardoll. The Lifesum app, available only in Europe, will expand internationally with funding from Bauer and SparkLabs. The global mobile health care market is estimated to be worth $6.3 billion last year, reaching $20.6 billion by 2018, according to figures from MarketsandMarkets, cited by Lifesum.

Last month it was announced that Lifesum was one of several digital startups to receive $100,000 from Unilever NA (UNA) in return for developing a digital marketing campaign for Unilever brands, which include Hellmann’s, Vaseline and Surf.