Stress is not just bad for you, it is also bad for your employer. Factorization in absenteeism, decreased productivity, billing, medical costs and accidents, the American non -profit stress institute estimates that stress in the workplace costs US companies More than $ 300 billion annually.
One way to measure stress is to monitor cortisol levels. Even influencers know this, with “Cortisol Face” Become a trend tiktok theme. But to address things scientifically, the hormone must be measured throughout the day, because it is the variation that matters most.
“At the end of the day, we should have the lowest levels,” he says Nutrix CEO MARIA HAHN. The newly presented hardware of your company, Cortisensethat measures cortisol in saliva, recently won the CES 2025 Innovation Award in the digital health category.
Providing patients with a device instead of making them go to a clinic is not only more convenient; It also allows to track cortisol levels just after waking up, Hahn told TechCrunch.
Developed with the support of the University of Applied Sciences, the northwest of Switzerland, Cortisense is integrated with the Nutrix digital health platform, Gersensewhich includes a digital health platform, continuous glucose monitoring, dietary management with AI and Telemedicine.
This also connects with The initial Nutrix approach: diabetes. Although he turned his hardware road map towards Cortisense, the company’s eye is still in chronic diseases. “Cortisol is a hormone that controls many other hormones, so it plays an important role in mental health, but also metabolic health,” said the businessman based in Switzerland.
This vision helped Nutrix obtain support from the Swiss Innovation Agency, INNOSISSE, as well as private investment. The Startup raised $ 4 million to date, including a round of $ 2.5 million seeds previously announced by the Simpact and Japan Deep Tech Fund Oist-Lifestime Ventures. Mayo Clinic also arrived on board, after meeting the team in CES 2024.
The startup seeks to raise a great round of the A series to finance its expansion, but its seed round has already started the American Cortisense launch. With the support of the Mayo Clinic, it plans to open offices in Silicon Valley.
Nutrix is not new in market expansion; Its Gersense platform is integrated with the public insurance system in Chile, a country where it received the support of the public program, Start-Up Chile. In 2024, the Swiss Startup of Health Technology also launched operations in Mexico and Peru.
The new for Nutrix, however, is the recoil On a model that addresses corporations, instead of consumers. Although less common in the United States, in countries like Chile, MexicoAnd Peru, health exams are part of employers’ obligation to fight for employee’s well -being, with the understanding that private health data remains private.
With the United States now at the top of the Cortisense Route map of Nutrix, Hahn will have to get used to clarifying “the company will only obtain the aggregate data.” And although a utilitarian tone around the economic costs of work stress may seem unpleasant for some, it can also serve as a reminder for employers that mental health is, in fact, health.
Cortisol is: “It is also extremely important in women’s health, especially in perimenopause and menopause, but it is also a very abandoned space from the point of view of research and studies,” said Hahn. Now plan to use some of the Nutrix funds to carry out more research on these ties. “For me as a woman, that is also very important,” he said.