Jawbone to acquire BodyMedia for more than $100 million

San Francisco-based Jawbone, a provider of smart audio devices and wearable technology, announced Tuesday that it has agreed to purchase Pittsburgh-based BodyMedia, a pioneer in wearable body monitors. Although the companies did not disclose the value of the deal, sources cited by a TechCrunch article said Jawbone is paying more than $100 million for BodyMedia.

Jawbone's announcement stated that the BodyMedia acquisition was an effort to "further its leadership and accelerate its innovation in wearable health technology and personal data analysis." BodyMedia has more than 14 years of medical and consumer expertise and holds 87 patents.

BodyMedia has "the only platform of its kind that is registered with the FDA as a Class II medical device and that is clinically proven to enhance users' weight loss," according to the announcement.

"There's an enormous appetite for personal data and self-discovery among consumers that will only continue to grow," Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman said in a statement. "Together, BodyMedia and Jawbone have almost three decades worth of deep tech, science and intellectual property around sophisticated sensors on the body, and nearly 300 issued and pending patents around wearable technology."

The BodyMedia acquisition is the second major purchase by Jawbone in the mHealth space in as many months. In February, Jawbone announced that it had acquired Bay Area mHealth startup Massive Health. Founded in 2010, Massive Health's iPhone app, The Eatery, enables people to improve their eating habits by snapping photos of their food and receiving crowd-sourced feedback.

To learn more:
- read the announcement
- read the TechCrunch article