The problem
Diabetes forces patients into a life of carb-counting and insulin injections with no days off — and founder Ziad Alame started Spike as a personal project to help himself adhere to medication “after reaching critical times in my diabetic life.”
How it works
Spike is a mobile assistant for iOS and Android that monitors the patient’s daily behavior and pops out reminders about insulin, food, and activity. Its AI learns context: walking into McDonald’s around 2 PM triggers the top three lunch options with approximate carb counts, and after roughly 30 minutes it reminds the patient about insulin while syncing with diabetic devices. The Guardian portal, launched onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin, lets permitted loved ones and doctors follow real-time stats, customizable charts, and spoken readings — including an Apple Watch app — so the patient’s support network can coach them to stay healthy.
Pain points
Relentless daily logging in complex spreadsheet-style apps, guessing carb counts at restaurants, missed insulin doses, and family members who want to help but cannot be there around the clock.
Business model
A freemium app with a premium paid version, designed to spread by word-of-mouth as each patient pulls family members and doctors into the Guardian loop.
Challenges
Hundreds of rival apps claim to help patients monitor vitals, led by entrenched players like MySugr; earning trust for life-critical routines is slow; and the freemium-to-paid conversion has to carry the business.
Funding
- Raised: $200,000 in seed funding from MEVP, Cedar Mundi, and Phoenician Funds, backing a team of diabetics, engineers, and PhDs (TechCrunch, Nov 2018).
- Won $50,000 of investment as the winning batch of Speed Lebanon’s acceleration program, plus the $100,000 grand prize as Supernova Champion at GITEX Future Stars 2018 (MENAbytes).
Latest — Feb 2019
On 12 February 2019 Spike was named App of the Week by On Tech Street, spotlighting its AI meal suggestions, customizable mobile charts, spoken stat readings, Apple Watch support, and integration with other diabetes monitoring apps (On Tech Street).