Embla

Happy to announce we are featured in this mornings news article from Sifted. ☕️ GLP-1 medication has proven to be extremely effective for weight loss. But medicine cannot stand alone. That is one of the reasons Nicholas Syhler and Laust Wilster Axelsen established Embla. One of our key missions is to pave the way for more healthy and sustainable approaches to medical weight loss. For instance, we are proud to use an average 59 % less medication, but reaching same weight loss as the clinical studies. We support our members by holistic health coaching, creating better habits that will improve chances of long-term weight loss. And we are beyond proud of the results we have had so far. Proud to say we have helped more than 10,000 people, surrounded by now 50+ fantastic colleagues in both Denmark and UK, challenging what seems like an exciting next chapter, ready to grow and expand further with what we see as a sustainable and indeed succesful business model. A special thanks to Seed Capital Denmark, Inovo.vc, Crowberry Capital, VentureFriends and Founders for believing in us and giving us the ability to grow further and pave the way for preventative healthcare, fighting obesity. We are all looking forward to the exciting journey ahead of us🚀 Niels Vejrup Carlsen Tine Marie Kjærgaard Lindgreen Hekla Arnardottir Apostolos Apostolakis Simon Sylvest Jack Peters Fivos Tsoukatos Przybylak

Very interesting article by Sifted on the GLP-1 startup space, with comments by our very own Nicholas & Laust. Give it a read (full article link below).

Online vægttabsklinikker er igen under kritik i TV2-dokumentaren “Tynd på sprøjte.” Men glemmer vi det store billede? I Danmark udskrives 4 ud af 5 Wegovy-recepter i almen praksis, mens kun 12% kommer fra online klinikker (heriblandt Embla). Det er selvfølgelig kritisabelt, når klinikker ikke udfører tilstrækkelig kontrol. Der vil altid være brodne kar, og de bør stoppes. Men set i lyset af den enorme sundhedsudfordring som overvægt er, fortjener de brodne kar ikke i nærheden af den opmærksomhed, som medierne giver dem. Bare i Danmark lever ca. 1 miollion mennesker med svær overvægt. På globalt plan er det 1 milliard mennesker og koster ca. 2.8 millioner menneskers liv hvert år. Burde vi ikke i stedet fokusere på det? På hvordan vi som samfund hjælper en ca. femtedel af danskere med at komme ud af svær overvægt og leve et sundere liv. Ikke bare på den korte bane, men på den lange. Lige nu er 90.000 danskere i behandling med Wegovy. Men hvad gør vi som samfund for at sikre, at disse mennesker ikke tager deres tabte vægt på igen eller er afhængig af dyr medicin resten af livet? Litteraturen viser nemlig, at: 1) De fleste tager på igen, når de stopper på medicinen 2) Vægtøgning efter medicin er primært fedt, hvilket fører til en mindre sund kropskomposition Samtidig ved vi, at overvægt er komplekst og kræver markante livsstilsændringer hos den enkelte for at komme til livs. Indikationen fra Novo Nordisk siger endda, at brugen af Wegovy *skal* suppleres af livsstilsinterventioner. Netop for at undgå, at lægemidlet bruges som et quick fix. Men hvor er diætisten henne i billedet? Hvor er psykologen? Hvor er sundhedscoachen? Hos Embla ved vi, at vægttabsmedicin brugt med omtanke og som del af en helhedsorienteret indsats, kan skabe varige, meningsfulde resultater hos den enkelte. Men kvaliteten af det tilbud, vi som samfund giver vores borgere, er på trods af intentionen om at hjælpe, simpelthen ikke omfattende nok. Det er det, vi bør fokusere på (og kritisere). At vi som samfund ikke har en fremtidsplan for de hundredtusindvis af mennesker, vi udskriver vægttabsmedicin til. For ikke at tale om de milliarder mennesker på verdensplan, der enten lever med svær overvægt eller kommer til det. Så, lad os holde øjet på bolden og ikke glemme det store billede. Hvordan kommer vi svær overvægt til livs?

After just 3 years in business, we're happy to share that EY has nominated our "small" startup for their Entrepreneur of the Year 2024 award 🏅 This nomination — more than anything — goes to show that helping other people improve their health and lives is both a worthy cause and a great business case. So, thanks 👏 to EY for the nomination. And thanks 👏 to everyone who has ever contributed to Embla for getting us to where we are today. You're the best.

The following article by Fortune (link in comments) offers a disappointing snapshot of the current state of the weight loss market. Whilst we are proud to be referenced alongside some other organisations looking at the same problem and tackling it in different ways to us (Noom, Calibrate, WeightWatchers, Found), we are keen to address a few points: -> Medication alone isn't the solution GLP-1s are part of the strategy, but behavioral changes are crucial for long-term success. The article focuses solely on GLP-1s, ignoring the essential role of behavioral health in weight loss. At Embla, Co-founded with Laust Wilster Axelsen, we aim to combat obesity with a comprehensive approach, beyond just medication - we prioritize education, guidance, and support to ensure lasting change.     -> A holistic approach is key Just as painkillers aren't a permanent fix for back pain, GLP-1s must be complemented with lifestyle changes to address the root causes of obesity. Obesity is tied to genetics, lifestyle, and psychology, requiring personalized interventions. We develop programs that fit our members’ lifestyles and meet them where they are. -> Our research shows promise In a study of 2,200 patients, including 350 who tapered down or completely off medication, we found that lower GLP-1 doses combined with lifestyle changes effectively prevent weight regain. This highlights the potential for solutions that don’t rely on lifelong medication. The article claims drug manufacturers see weight loss drugs as lifelong treatments. However, Novo Nordisk’s CEO has stated that lifelong treatment isn't needed for all (link in comments). Our team, including experts like Dr. Henrik Rindel Gudbergsen and myself, brings significant expertise in obesity care. We’d love to hear thoughts from Noom, Calibrate, WeightWatchers, Found, and others on this piece. Let's start a discussion on effectively tackling obesity in the comments!

Our focus on the price of weight loss medication is blinding us. Instead, we should talk more about this. → Dosage and time. Since its launch, GLP-1 medication like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy has been criticised for its relatively high price point. While the price of medication is an important topic (affordability leads to access), there’s too little focus on these two parameters that — in the case of weight loss medication — matter just as much. Turns out, you don’t need the full 2.4 mg standard dose or life-long treatment to see meaningful, lasting results. According to our real-world Embla study, there’s a way to get better outcomes out of less medication. This means the average user can save on medicine costs and experience fewer side effects. Additionally, this approach helps the global supply last longer. I discuss this, and more, in an opinion piece in Jyllands-Posten. Link in comments 👇 #wegovy #semaglutide #obesity #weightmanagement #weightloss

Did you know that we have a dedicated research unit that actively contributes to the study of weight loss? Being a digital clinic, data is at the core of what we do. We collect it. Analyse it. Use it. Both to improve our ability to support our members in their weight loss process, but also — and this is important — to push our collective understanding of weight loss, GLP-1 medication, and how we can best help individuals lose weight and keep it off for good. This has been important to us since we founded Embla in 2021. We didn’t want to limit ourselves to only helping *our* members lose weight (although this is our primary focus). We wanted to make a difference at scale, to help solve the global obesity crisis. In practice, this means that we have a handful of brilliant people working on organising, verifying, and understanding all the health-related information our thousands of members register during their time with us. We then publish our findings in our EMBRACE studies. In May, our research team (led by @Søren Seier) presented our latest study findings at the European Congress on Obesity 2024 in Venice. Our results showed that: ✔️ Gradual tapering prevents weight regain post GLP-1 ✔️ Our service leads to avg. loss of 14.9kg over 76 weeks ✔️ Embla members get meaningful results with just a third of the usual dose. We’re super proud of this data. Mainly because it represents hope. Hope that those struggling with overweight can use GLP-1 medication temporarily, as part of a holistic approach, rather than relying on it for life. With the secret "ingredient" being ongoing, personal health coaching from professionals. If you’re interested in reading more about our study, you can do so right here: https://lnkd.in/dDMn2B8V

Are your thoughts sabotaging your weight loss efforts? Join us on Thursday, 4th of July, for a free webinar on how to overcome the top 3 psychological barriers for weight loss. During the webinar, I'm joined by Embla psychologist, Anne Ellekjær. Together we'll cover: 🚧 What the top 3 barriers are 🔧 Practical tools to overcome them 🧠 Strategies to avoid negative thought patterns. If this sounds interesting, simply sign up via the link below: https://lnkd.in/eySB9WWb Look forward to seeing you there! Embla #weightloss #psychological #webinar

This is what you find if you search "weight loss" on Pinterest. "Get skinny in a week" "Burn belly fat in 14 days" "Lose 10 lbs fast" Now imagine you're a person whose been battling their weight for 10, 20, 30+ years. Does this resonate with you? Do these promises seem realistic? Hopeful? Within reach? Of course not. They're absurd and harmfully simplistic. They send the message that overweight is simply something you can solve in the blink of an eye by either following a few simple steps or drinking or eating something oddly specific. Sadly, this is what decades of reductive views on obesity and weight loss gets us. Isn't it time to change this? Weight loss is more complex than a "3-day military diet". It's influenced by genetics, hormones, habits, relationships, psychology, and social conditions. It's complicated because people are. Trying to reduce it to something simpler only undermines the lived struggle of more than a billion people around the world. Instead, we should recognise the complexity. Embrace it. Only then can we actually make meaningful changes, as individuals, and as a society.

We at Embla are looking to find yet another colleague for our product & development department - our new UI designer. Not only will you be working directly with some of the brightest techie-minds I've ever had the pleasure to call colleagues (and friends), including Emilia Wu, Jesper, Jeppe, Gorm, Mikkel, Marcella and Heraklis (plus 45 more).. but the product you will work on helps our thousands of fantastic members with their incredibly inspirational weight loss journeys. DM or comment if you have suggestions on who I should tap on the back or if you want to know more 💪 (please, no recruiters) https://lnkd.in/gYXmCeRM