Hubert Burda Media has invested in Quit Genius, in September 2020. Burda’s international growth capital arm BurdaPrincipal Investments (BPI) joined the $11 Million Series A funding round led by Octopus Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, Startup Health, and Triple Point Ventures. Quit Geniuswill use the funding to expand into other types of addiction, such as alcohol and opioid addiction.
Quit Genius was founded in 2017 by doctors — Yusuf Sherwani (co-founder and CEO), Maroof Ahmed (co-founder and COO) and Sarim Siddiqui (co-founder and Head of Product) — who met on the first day of medical school. They saw the terrible effects of smoking on patients’ health but didn’t see doctors giving those patients a clear path to quit smoking.
Quit Genius is solving this problem by leveraging technology to provide customised, yet scalable cognitive behavioural therapy to help users quit 100% virtually. This is achieved through an app-based product using data insights to deliver a personalised program, specific to a user’s triggers; via qualified quit coaches, audio sessions, animated videos, and interactive exercises. This is combined in the case of smoking with a breath testing device that increases user accountability, and appropriate nicotine replacement therapy. Quit Genius are seeing exceptional outcomes backed by clinical research, and across multiple clients.