Basis raises another $11.75M, closing Series B at $23M

The company has raised more than $32M altogether, but it's facing an increasingly competitive market

It’s easy to lose track of all the new wearable health monitors breaking into the Quantified Self market these days. But Basis might actually have an edge over the rest as the real deal. At a recent Vator Splash event, former Mayfield Fund managing director Raj Kapoor was wearing a Basis wristband, as was renowned tech blogger Robert Scoble. Kapoor is currently building a health and fitness startup of his own: Fitmob, which is still in stealth mode.

Earlier this year, Basis raised $11.5 million in a Series B round led by Mayfield Fund, with help from existing investors DCM and Norwest Venture Partners. The company announced Tuesday that it has raised an additional $11.75 million, bringing its total Series B round to more than $23 million. Since its founding in 2011, Basis Science has raised more than $32 million altogether.

The additional Series B financing includes investments from Intel Capital, iNovia Capital, Dolby Family Trust, Stanford University and Peninsula-KCG. Existing investors Mayfield Fund, DCM and Norwest Venture Partners also chipped in.

In addition to the new funding, the company announced the addition of mobile and platform product strategy expert Ethan Fassett as the company’s new VP of Product. Previously, Fassett was an entrepreneur-in-residence at Trinity Ventures. Prior to that, he was the SVP of Product for GREE International.

"Wearable computing enables a data-driven approach to managing healthcare and fitness," said Arvind Sodhani, President of Intel Capital and Intel Executive Vice President, in a statement. "By collecting heart rate, skin and ambient temperature data along with movement tracking, the Basis multi-sensor band opens up opportunities for data analytics driving deeper insights into health and personal behavior."

Basis made its big debut back in November with a wearable monitor with several sensors to track the wearer’s activity level and vital signs. The device measures heart rate, skin temperature and sweat, calories burned, sleep patterns, and more.

It’s a hardcore monitor for people who are serious about their health and want to do more than just gamify fitness. But Basis is coming up against some stiff competition from other health trackers like Jawbone, which rereleased its UP activity monitor and reportedly raised $113 million in funding in September. It also added Marissa Mayer to its board, while Mayer handed out Jawbone UP health trackers to all Yahoo employees.

And then there’s Fitbit, which raised $43 million in funding in August. Lumo BodyTech raised $5 million last December for a spine and posture monitoring device that you literally strap to your back. And Nike has announced an event on October 15 that may reveal the new Nike FuelBand 2.

Wearables are poised to explode in the next couple of years, according to Basis, which cites a study by IMS Research that forecasts wearable sales will reach 171 million devices shipped in 2016, up from 14 million devices shipped in 2011. 

Basis health trackers are available on the Basis website for $199 a piece.