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Noom Gets Silver Lake Backing Ahead of Potential IPO

Noom Gets Silver Lake Backing Ahead of Potential IPO

Noom Inc., an app marketed to aid weight loss by building new habits, received funding from private equity firm Silver Lake ahead of a planned public listing, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The company reached a value of about $4 billion in the funding round, which also included other investors, according to one of the people.

The company has met with potential advisers to discuss an initial public offering that could happen this year or early next year, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information was private.

Noom is aiming to be valued at around $10 billion when it goes public depending on market conditions, the people said.

Noom’s plans aren’t final and the details of its IPO, including timing and valuation, could still change, they said.

Representatives for Noom and Silver Lake declined to comment.

Eating Habits

Noom, which combines human coaches and artificial intelligence, markets its app to address the psychological roots of eating habits to help people make better decisions about nutrition.

Last year, the New York-based company announced the appointment of its first chief financial officer, Michael Noonan, who had been head of investor relations at Booking Holdings Inc.

Silver Lake, founded in 1999, is known for its bets on technology companies like computer-maker Dell Technologies Inc. It’s been active in investing in Internet companies as well and last year it put money into Airbnb Inc., Expedia Inc. and Twitter Inc.

Noom wouldn’t be its first deal related to health and fitness. It’s an investor in health-related companies including Verily, Equinox Holdings and GoodRX Holdings Inc., Silver Lake’s website showed.

Noom is backed by investors including Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins, RRE Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum and tennis star Serena Williams. The company, founded under a different name over a decade ago, has raised about $129 million to date, according to data provider PitchBook.

Noom was accused in a lawsuit last year of illegally tracking visitors to its website. The claims were dismissed last month by a federal judge in California.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.