OurPath

Second Nature, formerly operating as OurPath, delivers a digital health program focused on sustainable weight loss and improved metabolic health. The platform integrates medical insights, personalized nutritionist coaching, and behavior change science to offer a comprehensive, app-based intervention. It provides users with tracking tools, educational content, and support for developing healthier habits, alongside offering access to weight loss medication where appropriate.

The company was founded around 2015 by healthcare strategy consultants Chris Edson and Mike Gibbs. Their initial insight emerged from a shared frustration with the ineffective and often restrictive nature of traditional weight loss approaches, such as calorie counting and fad diets. They sought to leverage scientific research in nutrition and behavioral psychology to create a more effective and supportive pathway for individuals.

Second Nature serves individuals aiming for long-term weight management and chronic disease prevention. The program partners with major healthcare providers, including the NHS, and insurance companies like Vitality, facilitating broader access to its services. The company’s vision is to transform the understanding of weight loss, advocating for a holistic approach that cultivates a positive relationship with food and embeds lasting healthy behaviors into daily life.

OurPath (rebranded as Second Nature) is a UK digital health company that builds a behavioral-change weight‑loss and diabetes‑prevention program delivered via app plus human coaching and connected tracking devices; it has been commissioned by the NHS and has raised venture funding while scaling internationally[1][3].

High‑Level Overview

• Mission: To enable lasting habit change to prevent and reverse type‑2 diabetes and obesity‑related conditions by combining behavioral science, human coaching, and digital tracking[1][3].
  - Investment philosophy (if treated as an investable business): OurPath attracted early-stage investors focused on mission‑driven health tech, including Connect Ventures, SpeedInvest, Beringea and angel backers, signaling a preference for evidence‑based digital therapeutics that can partner with public health systems[1][3].
  - Key sectors: Digital health / digital therapeutics, preventive care, weight management, chronic disease management (type‑2 diabetes)[1][3].
  - Impact on the startup ecosystem: Helped validate scalable, clinically oriented weight‑loss/behavioral‑change programs in the UK market, demonstrated a route to NHS contracting, and provided a model for combining tech with clinician-led support that other health startups have emulated[1][3].

Origin Story

• Founding year and founders: OurPath was founded circa 2015 by healthcare‑strategy consultants Chris Edson and Mike Gibbs; both are Oxbridge alumni who designed the programme to deliver intensive lifestyle support to change behaviour[1][3].
  - How the idea emerged: The founders experienced rising NHS strain from lifestyle disease and built a data‑driven programme combining dietitian support, peer‑group digital support, and Bluetooth‑connected tracking to create sustained habit change and reduce type‑2 diabetes risk[1][3].
  - Early traction / pivotal moments: Early commissioning by the NHS (available by GP prescription in the UK) was a major validation; a $3M seed/early round led by Connect Ventures in 2018 funded UK growth and hiring[1]. The company later rebranded to Second Nature and closed a $10M Series A led by Beringea while scaling beyond 15,000 customers[3].

Core Differentiators

• Evidence‑driven, clinician‑led program: Combines dietitians and health experts with behavioral science rather than offering only algorithmic coaching[1][3].
  - Hybrid human + tech model: Mobile app and Bluetooth‑enabled tracking hardware integrated with human coaching and peer support groups to drive adherence and habit formation[1][3].
  - NHS contracting and clinical credibility: Secured NHS commissioning and GP prescription routes in the UK, demonstrating public‑sector acceptance uncommon for early digital health startups[1].
  - Fundraising and investor network: Early backing from Connect Ventures, SpeedInvest, prominent angels (e.g., Taavet Hinrikus, Ian Hogarth), and later Series A from Beringea provided both capital and credibility for scaling[1][3].
  - Rebrand and scale readiness: Transition to Second Nature signaled a shift from a narrow diabetes‑reversal framing toward broader habit‑change, enabling international expansion and diversified customer acquisition[3].

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

• Trend alignment: Rides the convergence of digital therapeutics, remote monitoring, and preventative care—areas growing as health systems seek scalable, lower‑cost interventions for chronic disease[1][3].
  - Timing: Rising prevalence of obesity and type‑2 diabetes, plus strained public healthcare budgets, created demand for scalable, evidence‑based preventative programs that can lower long‑term costs[3].
  - Market forces: Public payers (e.g., NHS) and employers are increasingly willing to fund digital health programs with measurable outcomes, favoring companies that demonstrate clinical effect and cost savings[1][3].
  - Influence: Helped demonstrate a commercially viable path for digital behavior‑change programs to work with national health systems and attract traditional VC and impact‑oriented investors.

Quick Take & Future Outlook

• What’s next: Continued international expansion, broader positioning as a general habit‑change/weight‑management platform (beyond strict diabetes reversal), and deeper integration with healthcare payers and employers are likely growth levers given the company’s rebrand and Series A funding[3].
  - Trends that will shape them: Greater payer reimbursement for digital therapeutics, tighter clinical evidence requirements, competition from other DTx players, and increased demand for integrated remote‑care solutions will determine pace and scale of adoption.
  - How influence might evolve: If OurPath/Second Nature sustains strong clinical outcomes and cost‑savings data, it could become a standard digital-first pathway for obesity and prediabetes management within public and private healthcare contracts, influencing reimbursement models and behavior‑change program design[1][3].

Quick final note: reporting treats OurPath and Second Nature as the same entity—OurPath rebranded to Second Nature while raising a Series A and expanding its mission from diabetes reversal toward broader habit change[3].