Men’s at-home health startup Vault takes in $30 million from Tiger Global

Vault, an at-home healthcare practice specializing men’s medicine has announced the raise of $30 million in funding from Tiger Capital Group, Declaration Capital and Redesign Health to reach more potential patients and expand to more areas beyond New York, Florida, Tennessee and Texas, where it currently offers treatments.

Founder and CEO Jason Feldman, who formerly headed Amazon’s Prime Video Direct and Global Innovation teams before launching Vault last summer, told TechCrunch his startup aims to bring specialized medicine into men’s homes to give them “a better body, better sex and a better brain.”

He tells TechCrunch he started the company after noticing how many of his male friends seemed embarrassed about medical conditions or simply didn’t know they could do something about it.

Vault operates on the assumption men face certain barriers to going to the doctor for things like hormonal imbalance and erectile dysfunction. The startup tries to remove these barriers by making it easy to book at-home appointments and get a work-up with a nurse practitioner.

“I want to de-stigmatize men’s health.” Feldman told TechCrunch. “You tell a guy to go see the doctor about his heart health and he likely won’t but you tell him you’ll bring him a doctor to help his penis and it’s a different story.”

Like many new concierge medical services that have popped up in the last few years, Vault does not take insurance, instead signing patients up via membership for $133 to $300 per month, depending on the type of service you sign up for. Compare that to Forward, which caters to both men and women and offers unlimited in-office visits and testing for $149/month or Roman, a men’s “digital clinic,” which offers free online evaluations, $15 doctor’s visits and prescription medications for similar services to Vault like erectile dysfunction, hair loss and testosterone support — although Roman requires patients see a physical doctor of their choosing within the last three years before they’re able to get prescriptions via digital services.

But Feldman doesn’t think his startup is anything like what’s out there right now, claiming it as the first national men’s healthcare provider. Vault offers specialty packages like testosterone therapy or the “sex kit” for an increased sex drive or stronger erections, something that sometimes diminishes as men age.

So far, Feldman has signed up over 500 medical practitioners to come to various home locations and has hired a chief medical officer to ensure medical standards are being met. He now plans to use the new funding to open up operations in 42 cities across the U.S. and work on spreading the word to all men nationwide that Vault is here for them.

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/12/mens-at-home-health-startup-vault-takes-in-30-million-from-tiger-global/

Meet Hatch Baby’s portable, WiFi-enabled sleep device Rest+

Menlo Park-based Hatch Baby has prided itself on introducing “smart” nursery devices — including Grow, a changing pad with a built-in scale and Rest, a device doubling as a sound machine and night light.

Now, the company is introducing an updated version of Rest with Rest+ as part of an effort to help further establish Hatch Baby in the family sleep space.

The Rest+ device will still have the sound machine, night light and a “time to rise” feature found in the original. But, with feedback from many customers and Amazon reviews, Hatch Baby has now included the addition of an audio monitor and a clock.

The audio monitor is essential for letting parents check in on baby while they sleep without going into the room and potentially waking the baby up.

The clock is also a fantastic addition, in my opinion, especially for those with toddlers who can read numbers. These little people are big enough to get out of their beds but not mature enough to know moms and dads need to sleep at 4 a.m. Often advice passed from parent to parent is to put a clock in the baby room and tell kids not to come out until it shows a certain number.

It also helps establish healthy sleep habits in little ones. Most toddlers (ages one to 3) need about 12 to 14 hours of sleep in a day, spread out between nighttime and naps, according to the National Sleep Foundation. However, as any parent knows, the older a baby gets, the harder it is to get them to want to go to bed.

Rest+ features include:

• Audio monitor: Parents can now check in on their child in their room without the risk of disrupting their little one’s sleep right from their phone — no extra gadgets necessary.
• Sound machine: Parents can choose from a range of sound options, from white noise to soft lullabies. They can simply crank up the volume remotely when the dog barks or the neighbors throw a party.
• Night light: This feature, which stays cool to the touch, provides soft and soothing
  lighting for midnight feeding sessions or bright and reassuring light when the dark feels scary for older kids. Parents and kids can choose from a rainbow of colors to make it their own, but the optional patented toddler-lock setting makes sure that parents are the only ones in control when needed.
• Time-to-Rise: Green means go! This feature enables parents to teach toddlers and
  preschoolers to stay in bed until it’s time to rise once the light changes color (and enjoy those extra minutes of sleep).
• Clock: Rest+ features an easy-to-read clock so that parents can stay on track with their busy schedules and can help teach children to read numbers.

Any one of these features could cost parents a good amount of dough when purchased separately. A Phillips Avent audio monitor runs just under $100 on Amazon, for example. However, Rest+ is just $80 (slightly more than the original $60 price tag for the Rest device), for all five features.

Something else that may make the Rest+ attractive to parents — it is WiFi-enabled and portable so you can take it with you when you travel.

Whipping a sound machine, nightlight, audio monitor and clock all into one portable, WiFi-enabled device can also save precious space in the nursery and makes this a must-have item for many parents hoping for just a little bit more sleep.

Hatch Baby co-founder Ann Crady Weiss tells TechCrunch the Rest+ will only be available on the Hatch Baby site and is part of a plan to launch a full line of products aimed at getting parents — and their children — more precious sleep. Though she wouldn’t say what the company was working on next, she did mention we’d hear something about it in the coming months. So stay tuned!

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/17/meet-hatch-babys-nursery-necessity-sleep-device-rest/

Meet Bobbie, a baby formula delivery startup promising healthier ingredients

Don’t like the idea of your baby guzzling down liquid candy all day? It may surprise you to find corn syrup is the main ingredient in most infant formulas in the U.S. That’s where Bobbie, a Bay Area-based baby formula delivery startup promising only wholesome ingredients hopes to fill in.

Just go down the baby food aisle of any supermarket in America and start reading the ingredients and you’ll likely find corn syrup, soy bean oil, glucose syrup, maltodextrin and palm oil at the top. Even “organic” options often add these ingredients.

While it’s high fructose corn syrup we should be most concerned with when it comes to diabetes (and some doctors might even recommend adding some sort of syrup to your baby’s diet to combat constipation), corn syrup is not something some parents may want their baby guzzling down all day.

Touting itself as “European” style, Bobbie’s first product features fresh, grass-fed cows milk as the main ingredient. What it does not include, however, is key for the concerned parent. There’s zero corn syrup, maltodextrin or other artificial sugars or unhealthy oils.

Of course, some babies might not be able to stomach the lactose from bovine sources but grass-fed and corn syrup-free is music to the ears of many parents (me included) who’ve resorted to ordering bulk from Germany just to avoid feeding our kids Snickers in a bottle.

Yes, it seems crazy to order all the way from Europe when there are so many choices here in the U.S. – and there are some formula manufacturers here making an effort to offer better options – but finding something that meets the simple standard of no sugar, corn syrup or processed oils in the baby food is weirdly difficult.

The other nugget Bobbie provides is delivery. Heaven knows every second is precious when you are a new parent. Delivery can be an especially big help in maintaining some semblance of order in those early days. Sure, Amazon delivers many baby things — it even ships the popular, German-based Hipp brand of formula — but it comes at a premium price and will only ship in bulk.

You can also get the European brands delivered straight from sites like Organic Start, Huggable and a number of others easily Googled. But for those wanting something local, slightly less expensive and with presumably less of a carbon footprint than shipping from another continent, Bobbie is here for you (and we’re told will be delivered with a soft knock on the door, in case baby is sleeping).

The company was founded by two San Francisco moms and former Airbnb operation leaders Laura Modi and Sarah Hardy. Both found out how hard it was, after returning from maternity leave, to pump each day while keeping up with the demands of the job. However, neither of them liked the formula options they found at the grocery store for their own little broods.

Modi and Hardy thought it was time to give parents a more local choice in healthy formula. The two founded the company in 2018 and pulled in $2.5 million in funding last year from Bolt Capital, Nextview Ventures, Lakehouse, and Precursor while Modi was pregnant, closing the round a week before giving birth to her baby boy.

Bobbie will (appropriately) begin taking orders this Mother’s Day. Unfortunately, Bobbie only delivers to the Bay Area for now. However, those interested can order one 400 g trial box for $27, which should make about 22 bottles at 6 ounces per bottle, according to a company spokesperson. You can also sign up for the subscription package for $23 per box.

Bobbie Baby – Evolving the conversation of parenthood from Laura Modi on Vimeo.

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/10/meet-bobbie-a-baby-formula-delivery-startup-promising-healthier-ingredients-2/

The Amazonization of Whole Foods, one year in

Amazon promised to breathe new tech into the relationship with Whole Foods after putting a $13.7 billion ring on it one year ago. So how did that promise shake out?

At the time, Amazon said the goal was to make “high-quality, natural and organic food affordable for everyone.” Bananas, avocados and even tilapia was going to be cheaper than before. Prime members would receive increased benefits with discount rewards and Amazon drones would be delivering packages right to your door.

Okay, that last bit was not promised — though we’re not the first to speculate on that possibility in the future.

A bunch of other Amazon offerings involving delivery options were also mentioned, including the getting of Whole Food groceries through a then new Amazon Fresh grocery delivery program and Whole Foods private label products would be made available through Prime Now and Prime Pantry. Further, Amazon lockers would be showing up at select stores to make pick ups and returns easier for Amazon customers. And, of course, new jobs would be created to handle all the new infusion of technology.

Soon customers started to see Amazon Echo devices popping up in stores, urging people to install them in their home for easier grocery ordering through voice command. Echo dots lined the walls and could be found surrounded by produce. Amazon promised to deliver more devices to try in-store ahead of purchase as time went on.

Since the launch, “customers have already saved hundreds of millions of dollars,” according to Whole Foods co-founder and CEO John Mackey. “So whether it’s better prices on your weekly shop, saving time through delivery from Prime Now or taking advantage of incredible weekly deals for Prime members, the overall customer experience is richer and more seamless than it’s ever been,” he continued.

I’m not sure the average customer would see the experience as “richer and more seamless” but the changes are noticeable. Walking into my local Whole Foods, the Amazon branding is everywhere from the deep orange lockers off to the side, the large, green Amazon Fresh coolers greeting me at the entrance to the parking lot and rows of bags ready for pickup and delivery via Amazon workers.

A large “Prime Member Deal” sign hangs down from the ceiling, greeting me at the front of the store. Beyond, there’s the produce, once fresh and free of rot with all organic labeling. Now? It’s unclear. I used to argue the “whole paycheck” prices were worth it for the better quality produce. Lately, I’ve had to throw a bunch of stuff out because it just doesn’t last as long or look as good. Not everything is organic.

Other shoppers have noticed the same dip in quality across the U.S., along with missing products or a lot of out of stock items they’d been buying for years at their grocery store.

It’s been called the “conventionalization” of Whole Foods by Wall Street investment bank Barclays, which also noted there had been some comments from Mackey about cultural “clashes” during his appearance at the American Production and Inventory Control society’s annual conference.

On the flip, Amazon has managed to add some nifty integrations for Prime members including club member style sales prices and five percent cash back for those purchasing groceries with their Prime Visa card. You want to do one better, just download the Amazon app to your smartphone, use the code given and then purchase with Apple pay using your Amazon Prime credit card for maximum benefits. Of course, that’s only for those all in with the system.

Adding to that, there’s the super fast two-hour delivery option (in 20 cities for now, with more to come this year, according to Amazon) and grocery pickup so you don’t even have to wander through the store to get everything you need (although, I am one of those who likes picking out my own produce and wandering through the store sometimes),

I’ve also enjoyed using the integrated partnership to order Whole Foods items straight from my Amazon Fresh account (a lifesaver in those early days of postpartum when it was impossible to get out of the house). Before the integration I could use Instacart but had to order from each store separately in different orders. With Amazon, I can order from various stores, including Whole Foods through my Amazon Fresh account all in one order and then choose a time for delivery.

There’s still some bumps with that process — you can’t order every item available in Whole Foods, just what Fresh offers that week through the Amazon platform. The bags are also large and often don’t fill up to their full potential, leaving a lot of waste. But that’s like complaining you can’t get good WiFi on an airplane. It’s frustrating but you are flying through the sky and messaging people on the ground. Similar, you are ordering food through the air waves and it shows up at your door step. In the grand scheme, it’s amazing!

Anyway, yes, there are more conveniences for Amazon Prime members and further integrations with technology to make the shopping experience easier. It does also seem Amazon has hired more workers to fulfill the needs this technology creates. At my own market it seems tough to tell who is an Amazon worker rummaging through the aisles for listed items and who’s just shopping for themselves these days.

Is the marriage working? Tough to tell at this point. Those promised changes may seem exciting for both parties but between disappointed shoppers and a “clash” in culture it may not have been what Whole Foods faithful wanted. Still, at least some vendors have said they’ve seen an increase in sales and volume of products sold since the acquisition, despite the drop in prices. And Mackey, comparing his love for his wife with the relationship said in a recent interview “I don’t love absolutely everything about my wife, either, but on balance I love, like, 98%. That’s a pretty good ratio, based on my previous relationships.”

It might not even matter what loyal Whole Foods customers think. The acquisition gives Amazon an opportunity to introduce its 100 million Prime members to the grocery store it envisions — one that could drop organic, fossil fuel free groceries via drone at their doorstep in the future.

While it’s hard to know how the partnership has impacted Amazon’s bottom line overall, we do know sales going up and to the right is a good thing. We still need to see how this relationship performs over time but one year in looks promising.

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/01/heres-whats-changed-at-whole-foods-one-year-into-the-amazon-relationship/

Amazon is cutting hundreds of corporate jobs, according to a new report

 In a rare move for the online retail giant, Amazon is laying off hundreds of corporate workers in its Seattle headquarters and elsewhere, according to a Seattle Times report. The corporate cuts come after an eight-year hiring spree, taking the company from 5,000 in 2010 to 40,000 in its Seattle headquarters and gobbling up several retail businesses throughout the country. However, according to… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/12/amazon-is-cutting-hundreds-of-corporate-jobs-according-to-a-new-report/?ncid=rss

The creator of Snoo, the $1200 high tech bassinet just came out with a baby swaddle

 “Five second” baby swaddle Sleepea (pronounced “sleepy”) is a sleep sack for your little one promising to be more efficient and effective than the other swaddles on the market. This is the second product to debut from Happiest Baby founder Dr. Harvey Karp, the creator of the Snoo, a $1200 robot bassinet that rocks and vibrates your baby to sleep. The swaddle is more of… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/05/the-creator-of-snoo-the-1200-high-tech-bassinet-just-came-out-with-a-baby-swaddle/?ncid=rss

CVS, other health stocks down upon Amazon, JPMorgan, Berkshire healthcare co news

 Investors panicked this morning upon the news Amazon, JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway were teaming up to launch a health insurance company for their U.S. employees. Healthcare is one of the biggest operating costs for Fortune 500 companies and the three iconic companies have joined forces to build a new health insurance company for all U.S. employees in an effort to improve satisfaction… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/30/cvs-other-health-stocks-down-upon-amazon-jpmorgan-berkshire-healthcare-co-news/?ncid=rss

Amazon’s new healthcare company could give smaller health tech players a boost

 JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway have joined forces with Amazon to form a new healthcare company for all U.S. employees. Right now details are so sparse that there’s not even a name associated with the new company. However, this is big news for the industry and could possibly have ramifications not only for health insurance giants, but for also smaller tech companies that are open… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/30/amazons-new-healthcare-company-could-give-smaller-health-tech-players-a-boost/?ncid=rss

Natural home products startup Grove Collaborative bets niche wins over the Amazonization of everything

 Who needs Amazon when you can make your own online distribution channel? At least, that’s the idea behind Grove Collaborative, a natural home care products company that ships natural cleaning brands like Method and Mrs. Meyer’s. Co-founder Stuart Landesberg started the company in 2014 after working with retail brands during his time as an investor at TPG. He noticed how limited… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/17/natural-home-products-delivery-startup-grove-collaborative-bets-niche-will-win-over-the-amazonization-of-everything/?ncid=rss

Crunch Report | This Black Friday could be the biggest ever for mobile and we found a new planet

 Today’s Stories  This Black Friday could be the biggest ever for mobile shopping Amazon blames the postal service for Amazon Fresh delivery issues Scientists found a new Earth-sized planet nearby Credits Written by: Sarah Buhr Hosted by: Sarah Buhr Filmed by: Joe Zolnoski Edited by: John Murillo Notes: Tito’s continues his journey out in the Outback this week so… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/15/crunch-report-this-black-friday-could-be-the-biggest-ever-for-mobile-and-we-found-a-new-planet/?ncid=rss

A bunch of Amazon customers were told about a purchase on their non-existent baby registries

 Something weird is going on over at Amazon. It seems the online retail giant is randomly telling some customers about purchases on their baby registry. The problem is these customers say they don’t have a baby registry and some don’t even have a baby. Retailers regularly keep tabs on our purchases so they can retarget us with ads and notifications based on that data in hopes we… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/19/a-bunch-of-amazon-customers-were-told-about-a-purchase-on-their-non-existent-baby-registries/?ncid=rss

Amazon files for arbitration against Kindle Direct authors and publishers

 Amazon has accused several book publishers, marketers and authors using the Kindle Direct Publishing system to artificially inflate their sales numbers and has now filed for arbitration against them. Amazon has laid out five arbitration demands in a complaint filed with the American Arbitration Association and obtained by TechCrunch (see below), accusing the involved parties of offering… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/07/amazon-files-for-arbitration-against-kindle-direct-authors-and-publishers/?ncid=rss

Amazon will lose money on Whole Foods — but probably not for long

 Sometimes giving up something in the short-term can yield a big reward in the long-term. That’s the idea behind many of Amazon’s businesses, and that’s particularly true of the recent Whole Foods deal. Amazon’s purchase of the upscale Whole Foods grocery chain for $13.7 billion will go through on Monday, and already the online retailer has said prices will drop on… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/25/amazon-will-lose-money-on-whole-foods-but-probably-not-for-long/?ncid=rss

Wal-Mart takes a cue from Amazon and applies for its own drone-deploying blimp patent

 Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is taking on Amazon in what appears to be a copycat move — by applying for a drone-deploying blimp patent. You may recall Amazon filed a patent for a flying warehouse that will send drones to your door about a year ago. Now Walmart wants in on Amazon’s idea. The patent application, first noted in Bloomberg, shows the Walmart blimp would float about 500 to… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/21/wal-mart-takes-a-cue-from-amazon-and-applies-for-its-own-drone-deploying-blimp-patent/?ncid=rss

Amazon is refunding purchases of unverifiable eclipse eyewear

 Amazon is issuing refunds for those who’ve purchased possibly fake solar eclipse glasses on the site in anticipation of this summer’s big solar eclipse event. A lot of folks have been gearing up for the event that will — depending on where you are — either totally block out the sun or partially block it as the eclipse moves across the North American hemisphere on… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/12/amazon-is-refunding-purchases-of-unverifiable-eclipse-eyewear/?ncid=rss

Amazon rolls out Rapids, a chat style reading app for kids

 Rapids is a cute new kids app from Amazon using a playful chat style to help kids ages six to twelve enjoy reading. A lot of kid’s reading apps are a take on the traditional storybook and Amazon already has a Kindle for kids, but Amazon’s Rohit Agarwal, who headed up the project, noticed his own kids were already using the phone to chat via text with their friends and… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/02/amazon-rolls-out-rapids-a-chat-style-reading-app-for-kids/?ncid=rss

Amazon rolls out “Page Flip” for an easier way to flip between pages on Kindle

 Need to find that one other passage or picture in a book but find it hard to do with an e-reader? Kindle readers wanting to flip back and forth and make a quick reference to materials now have an easier way to do so with a new feature called Page Flip. Kindle refers to Page Flip as a “reimagined navigation experience.” What that means is you can now “flip” pages back… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/28/amazon-introduces-page-flip-for-kindle/?ncid=rss

The $229 August Smart Lock is available in big box stores starting today

 You can now purchase August’s second generation Smartlock at Best Buy and Amazon, starting today. The much-anticipated Bluetooth-enabled device allows homeowners to lock and unlock their front door using an app and joins a host of other gadgets in the August Smart Home Access System, including a smart doorbell camera allowing you to see who’s at your front door from your phone, and… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2016/04/28/the-229-august-smart-lock-is-available-in-big-box-stores-starting-today/?ncid=rss

Amazon adds the $130 Tap and the $90 Dot to the Echo family

 Amazon’s voice-operated command center Echo produces something close to modern-day magic within our homes: Get the latest news, order a pizza, turn off the lights or find out who killed Bruce Wayne’s parents in fewer than 1,200 milliseconds. Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/03/amazon-adds-the-130-tap-and-the-90-dot-to-the-echo-family/?ncid=rss