Brief on Vivoo
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Company in one line
Vivoo uses a urine dipstick to provide personalized health advice
Advantage (B)
Smart packaging and accompanying app. Easy to use and provides fast insights sparing users’ the hassle of shipping back samples.
No technological innovation per se. Appears to be similar to any urine dipstick found in the clinic or bought on Amazon.
Market & Competition (C)
Target market are consumers who want to quantify health. Competition is stiff and there are no barriers to entry. Could have network effect by building up data and tracking over time. However, there are plenty of cheaper alternatives with app support. This is a commodity product.
Team & Investors (B)
Mix of healthcare, tech and marketing. Winner of the Meet the Draper show and raised money from Tim Draper, 500 Startups and Techstars.
Overall (C)
Appears to be a urine dripstick wrapped in a flashy candy paper. Would have to spend a great fortune on marketing to consumers and acquired consumers are likely to fatigue; this product is neither sticky nor insightful. Hard to see this company growing or being acquired in its current form.
—Rahm, BriefNotes
Also, the company was reported by Truth In Advertising for misleading consumers about what it can test: https://www.truthinadvertising.org/vivoo/ They've since been forced to pull some of those claims from their website and app, although a few remain.