Royal Philips, a medical device manufacturer and healthcare information technology services company, is pushing deeper into web-driven consumer healthcare with the acquisition of a mobile app developer.
Philips today acquired Health & Parenting Ltd, a London-based developer of healthcare and family-related mobile apps for expectant and new parents. Health & Parenting’s apps will enhance Philips’ uGrow digital parenting platform and strengthen Philips’ offering in pregnancy and parenting mobile healthcare, the company says. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Health & Parenting creates apps to guide expecting parents through pregnancy and into parenthood. Its core product, the Pregnancy+ app, has been downloaded approximately 12 million times from the Apple App and Google Play stores, the company says.
Health & Parenting’s applications will be integrated into Philips’ uGrow digital parenting platform, which captures data from connected devices, such as the Philips Avent smart baby monitor and Philips Avent smart ear thermometer. That will enable the apps to provide personalized feedback and advice.
The uGrow platform also will be integrated into Philips’ health suite digital platform, a cloud-connected system of devices, apps and digital tools.
“This acquisition fits perfectly in our digital strategy to help expectant and new parents understand and support their baby’s healthy development, through a series of connected digital products with the uGrow application at the core,” says Philips health and wellness business leader Egbert van Acht. “With Health & Parenting, we will strengthen our digital offering in pregnancy and parenting, and increase the scale of our global parenting platform that provides consumer and professional care.”
Philips’ strategy is to establish itself as a main player in the field of consumer health technology, van Acht says. The acquisition is Philips’ second in mobile healthcare. In March, Philips launched a mobile app to help diabetes patients manage their disease as well as new apps for healthy living and healthy aging. Philips’ also has new multi-year deals with Bon Secours Charity Health System and Banner Health that are part of its strategy to work with healthcare organizations to create personal healthcare products and services, the company says.