Noom bulks up with $7M first round to support its weight-loss & fitness apps

Noom is one of the few companies making good money on Android — or so it appears. Now, the company is raking in some investment dollars, too.

The company’s Weight Loss Coach app, launched on Android in May, 2011, was the highest-grossing health and wellness app on the Android platform in 2013, according to Noom.

Now Noom has another reason to be pleased: It has received a $7 million Series A investment led by RRE Ventures, one of New York’s highest-profile venture capital firms.

Noom now boasts that its weight-management app has been installed on 11 million devices. It also has an iPhone version, called Noom Weight for iPhone, which accounts for some of that installed base. The apps let you log what you’re eating, track your exercise, count calories, and set goals.

Noom’s biggest competitor in the weight-loss category is probably MyFitnessPal, which picked up an $18 million investment from Kleiner Perkins and Accel in August, 2013. Numerous other apps are available to track food intake as well as fitness, including MapMyRun, RunKeeper, and apps associated with wearable fitness gadgets like those from Jawbone, FitBit, and Shine.

Noom’s other apps, including Noom Walk (a pedometer app) and CardioTrainer, account for another 10 million installs.

While the apps are free, customers can pay for a Pro version of Noom Weight Loss Coach with additional features for $10 per month or $50 per year.

The funding round also included investment participation from TransLink Capital, Recruit Strategic Partners, Scrum Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, and Harbor Pacific Capital.

Noom was founded in 2011 in New York by Artem Petakov, a former Google employee who founded and then led the user-created map content team at the search giant, and Saeju Jeong, a former music executive.