MyFitnessPal, a San Francisco software developer with a namesake smartphone app, raised its 1st round of funding, today touting an $18 million Series A round led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers with participation by Accel Partners.
The company has been profitable since its inception, according to a press statement, and this marks the 1st time that it’s looked outside for funding.
"The bootstrapped environment has given MyFitnessPal a foundation to focus on the primary driver of our business, creating a fantastic user experience to help our 40 million members reach their health and fitness goals," co-founder Mike Lee said in prepared remarks. "With this funding, we are now perfectly positioned to expand our product, team and audience reach and empower consumers throughout the world to reach their health goals, build healthy habits and live healthy lives."
The MyFitnessPal app, available on iPhones and Androids, helps users keep tabs on their caloric intake and daily exercise, helps set daily calorie recommendations based on weight-goals and wirelessly gathers data from a series of scales, pedometers and exercise trackers.
In a letter to users posted on the company’s blog, the founders and their team explained why the company chose to finally open up to outside funding.
"We have big ideas for MyFitnessPal, and we want to bring them to life for you, now," they wrote. "We want to build the best, most complete personal health and fitness system. More than that, we want to help create a healthier world by helping individuals everywhere create healthy habits and live healthier lives. These are big, audacious goals, but we are confident that the experience and resources of KPCB and Accel will help us make them a reality."
The company hopes to expand its existing services and provide more data and analytics to their growing base, which is already about 40 million members strong.
"There are so many things we’ve wanted to build but we’ve had to grow very slowly and carefully, until now," the blog added. "We look forward to using these funds to deliver the insights and features we have long wanted to create for you. We will also be expanding our presence around the world so millions of people like you can experience MyFitnessPal and fall in love with their new active and balanced lifestyles!"
