Noom, a mobile health and fitness developer, has secured $2.6m (£1.6m) in pre-Series A funding. Noom says that its Weight Loss Coach has been the number one weight loss app on the Android platform since its launch and the top grossing app in the Health and Fitness category since v3.0 launched in September. Its app has an average rating of 4.3.

The app gives users a customised program to help them lose weight, get fit, and stay on track. It brings together three core concepts of weight loss into one mobile app: tracking, motivation and coaching. Noom says its users have lost more than 20m pounds using the app.

The round was led by UK-based, mobile-focused VC firm, m8 Capital, along with Qualcomm Ventures, Harbor Pacific Capital and ex-executives from Nexon, an online gaming company. Noom is expanding into Asia by opening the Noom Korea marketing office. South Korea is the third international market for Noom, behind the US and UK. Noom is building more relationships in Europe with the help of its m8 investors.

The company also wants to expand beyond the Android OS. Noom already has more than 15m installs across its wellness products on this platform.
“The most powerful smartphone apps are those you use everyday, and Noom’s Weight Loss Coach is exactly that.  We’re excited about Noom’s growth potential,” said Joseph Kim, general partner at m8 Capital.
“Noom’s Weight Loss Coach app serves as the ideal beachhead to offer a broader suite of coaching tools – focused on less manual input and more insightful output,” said Qualcomms investment director, Patrick Eggen.