Levels
See how food affects your health with real-time metabolic data
TL;DR: See how food affects your health with real-time metabolic data. Reached $1,775,000 MRR with 30000+ users.
Key Metrics
As of 2023-12
Milestones
Pricing
Tech Stack
Sources
Timeline
2018
Josh Clemente experiences unexplained energy crashes while working at SpaceX, begins self-testing blood glucose with finger-prick tests
2018
Clemente denied CGM access by four different doctors because he wasn't diabetic; obtains one through a friend in Australia where they're OTC
2018
First week of CGM data reveals Clemente is borderline pre-diabetic despite appearing healthy - validates the core problem
2019-05
Josh Clemente reconnects with Sam Corcos, invites him to NYC for weekend whiteboarding session on 'Frontier BioMetric' concept
2019-05
Sam Corcos commits within 24 hours after trying a CGM himself, realizes the real value is in the software layer
2019-06
Levels formally founded by Josh Clemente, Sam Corcos, David Flinner, Andrew Conner
2019-07
First paying customer: investor Brian Thompson, with only 60-100 pre-orders at this point
2019-09
Dr. Casey Means joins as Chief Medical Officer and fifth co-founder, bringing medical expertise and credibility
2019-11
First product ships to customers - CGM patch with accompanying mobile app
2020-01
Early beta program begins with hand-held onboarding for each customer, structured as 28-day program
2020-06
Content marketing strategy launched with education-first blog, inspired by 'They Ask, You Answer' methodology
2020-09
Waitlist reaches 31,000 people, revenue growing 40%+ month-over-month
2020-11
$12M seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with Marc Randolph (Netflix), Dick Costolo (ex-Twitter CEO) as angels
2020-11
Waitlist reaches 50,000 with 1,000+ people having completed the 28-day program
2021-01
6,000 people completed beta program, 100,000 on waitlist
2021
Revenue reaches $8M for the year, growing substantially from near-zero in 2020
2021-05
Sam Corcos publishes first batch of investor updates and all-hands recordings publicly (12-month delay policy)
2021-06
Levels podcast 'A Whole New Level' launches, along with 'Metabolic Insights' audio articles feed
2022-02
Wefunder community round raises $5M from 1,440 investors in less than 6 hours, 155K on waitlist
2022-04
$38M Series A at $300M post-money valuation, driven by member and community alignment
2022-06
Exits closed beta and becomes publicly available, supports both FreeStyle Libre CGM and Dexcom G6
2022
Launches at-home metabolic health blood testing panel with eight lab tests
2022
Revenue grows 104% year-over-year from 2021 baseline of $8M
2022
30,000+ members enrolled in observational research study
2023-01
$7M Series A extension round
2023-Q4
Starts offering newest CGM generation: FreeStyle Libre 3 and Dexcom G7
2023-12
Annual revenue reaches $21.3M (143% CAGR since 2020), 1,327% total revenue growth
2023-12
Operating efficiency improves to $500K average monthly loss with $15.8M cash (2+ years runway), team of 35
2023-12
Blog reaches 500+ articles, 2M+ annual visitors, 1.5M+ podcast listens across two feeds
2024
Introduces app-only membership starting at $125/year, no longer requires CGM hardware purchase
2024-08
$10M Series A extension from community investors, Long Journey, and a16z to fund more accessible metabolic health app
2024
Second Wefunder community round approaches $2M from 1,000+ investors
2024
Introduces three-tier membership model: Classic, Core, and Complete with varying CGM and lab inclusion
Distribution
Podcasts/Influencers
Concentrated growth spend on a handful of top-tier health influencers (Andrew Huberman, Mark Hyman, Bobby Parish, Becky Gillaspy) who had existing audiences in the metabolic health space. Endorsement-driven rather than sales-focused placements. Used affiliate and sponsorship models with sustained partnerships rather than one-time spots.
→ Vast majority of 200K+ waitlist members cited podcasts as primary discovery channel for CGM technology. Podcast partnerships became the single largest growth driver.
Content Marketing/SEO
Built 500+ research-backed articles with no sales CTAs, no promotional repurposing. Editorial team removed product praise from testimonials. Created 400+ internal links. Operated two podcast feeds (A Whole New Level, Metabolic Insights) with 1.5M+ listens. Multi-platform content distribution: Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest.
→ 2M+ annual blog visitors, became the largest metabolic health content resource on the web. SEO results visible within 2 months of starting. Blog drove significant organic waitlist growth.
Community/Crowdfunding
Used Wefunder for equity crowdfunding in 2022 and 2024, turning customers into investors. Building in public with published investor updates and all-hands recordings. Created social currency around CGM wearing (visible sensor as status signal).
→ $5M raised from 1,440 investors in under 6 hours on Wefunder in 2022. Investors became financially motivated brand ambassadors amplifying word-of-mouth.
Word of Mouth
CGM sensor visible on arm acted as conversation starter and social signaling device. Users naturally shared glucose data and food experiments on social media. Building in public philosophy encouraged community sharing.
→ Organic social sharing contributed to waitlist growth alongside paid channels. 55% female, 45% male member split showed broad appeal beyond biohacker niche.
Launches
200K+ waitlist before general availability in 2022
$5M raised from 1,440 investors in under 6 hours
Growth Story
Josh Clemente, a SpaceX life support engineer, was denied CGM access by four doctors despite experiencing metabolic symptoms. He spent a year researching the problem, then recruited Sam Corcos (who committed in 24 hours) and three other co-founders to build Levels in mid-2019. Instead of launching publicly, they built an invitation-only waitlist that grew to 200K+ subscribers through strategic podcast partnerships with Andrew Huberman and Mark Hyman, plus a 500+ article education-first blog. They raised $12M from a16z in 2020, $38M Series A in 2022, and two Wefunder community rounds totaling ~$7M. Revenue grew from near-zero to $21.3M ARR by 2023.
Key Insights
- →Demand-first approach: built 200K+ waitlist before general availability by using exclusivity and scarcity borrowed from Superhuman and streetwear brands
- →Education-first content with zero sales CTAs - 500+ blog articles and 2M+ annual visitors built trust and organic discovery without direct selling
- →Podcast partnerships drove the majority of early awareness - when surveyed, most waitlist members discovered CGMs through podcast appearances
- →Concentrated spending on a handful of top-tier influencers (Huberman, Hyman) rather than spreading across many smaller creators for sustainable conversions
- →Founder personally conducted thousands of customer development calls - interviewed nearly every beta user at midpoint and endpoint of 28-day program
- →Community crowdfunding on Wefunder raised $5M in under 6 hours from 1,440 investors, creating financially motivated brand ambassadors
- →Repositioned CGMs from medical devices to lifestyle optimization accessories for the quantified-self market, avoiding medical device regulatory complexity
- →Building in public with memo-first culture and 12-month-delayed investor updates built trust with community, investors, and potential hires
- →Telemedicine integration solved the prescription barrier - handled CGM prescription digitally so users never needed to visit a doctor
- →The 'juice cart moment' - showing real-time glucose spike from healthy juice to investors - became a repeatable conversion tactic for fundraising and customer acquisition
Challenges
- !US prescription requirement for CGMs created onboarding friction - solved through telemedicine partnership integration
- !Hardware dependency on third-party CGM manufacturers limited pricing flexibility and margin control
- !Educating consumers about a problem they didn't know they had required massive upfront content investment before seeing revenue
- !Balancing rapid growth (40%+ MoM) with maintaining the personal touch that made beta users loyal
- !Operating at monthly loss of $500K despite $21M revenue in 2023, requiring careful runway management
Target Audience
Health-conscious consumers who already track biometrics (sleep, steps, heart rate) and want to optimize metabolic health, ranging from biohackers and athletes to adults in their 40s-50s concerned about metabolic dysfunction and diabetes prevention
Problem Solved
88 million Americans are pre-diabetic but most don't know it. Standard blood glucose tests miss real-time metabolic responses to food. Existing CGMs were prescription-only and designed for diabetics, not wellness consumers. Levels made glucose monitoring accessible to non-diabetic populations and translated raw data into actionable behavioral insights.