Newtopia Founder & CEO Announces Direct Public Offering
My name is Jeff Ruby and I’m the founder and CEO of Newtopia. When I founded Newtopia in 2008 as a precision health company for habit change and lifestyle related disease prevention, we closed our first angel funding round days before Lehman Brothers fell. I figured at the time that we were sufficiently battle tested. Today, I’m both thrilled, and find it a bit ironic, to announce that Newtopia has gone public in the midst of a global disease prevention pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced nations, organizations, and people everywhere to take a collective pause in an effort to halt the spread of infection. There is much to be learned from this moment in history — and if we’re careful, much to be gained. For starters, we are all witnessing first hand how our individual behavior can make the difference between life and death. This concept is precisely what Newtopia is all about, and now more than ever, I believe the world is ready for change in pursuit of better health.
Newtopia was born out of the need to re-think preventative healthcare and inspire individuals to live healthier every day. I first opened my eyes to this reality when my father was diagnosed with cancer at an early age. As with many of us who are touched by this horrible disease, it was difficult to watch him struggle and leave us too soon. Through this experience, I started Newtopia for my father, for my children, and for every person on the planet who is looking for the right plan and inspiration to live a healthy life.
My father’s battle with cancer was a catalyst for me, just as the COVID-19 pandemic will be a catalyst for us, as a global society, to focus on disease prevention. What does it mean to be healthy? At Newtopia, we believe in a true “1:1” approach. By gathering data on behavioral, social and genetic factors, our participants receive a hyper-personalized action plan and experiences that help them build – and grow – healthy habits. Unlike traditional one-size-fits-all programs that dictate more than motivate, Newtopia strikes a balance between meeting people where they are and pushing them to achieve their goals. By doing so, we’ve proven that we can not only prevent the onset of lifestyle related chronic diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke; we can also deliver meaningful cost savings and achieve proven value on investment within one year that grows over time.
Over the past several years, our interdisciplinary team of medical and behavioral experts, Inspirators, and product designers has built a multi-faceted, telehealth-enabled habit change platform that has changed tens of thousands of lives. Today Newtopia is poised to become the leader in lifestyle-based disease prevention. At the same time, risk-bearing employers and insurers are facing an urgent need to reduce risk in their populations as a result of COVID-19.
Newtopia’s public offering is an invitation to join us in the fight against chronic disease and a “sick care” system stuck on its back foot. Covid-19 has shown us that its time for us all to get on the front foot for what comes next for the health of every individual on the planet. We look forward to partnering with risk bearing stakeholders to continue our mission of helping at-risk individuals on their unique path to better health. Together, we will save lives and help make healthcare more about keeping people healthy. I hope you join us.