Austin-based startup Throne has raised $4 million in seed funding to develop its AI-powered toilet device aimed at monitoring gut health.
The round was led by Moxxie Ventures, with support from a cast of prominent backers including Lance Armstrong, Rupa Health co-founder Tara Viswanathan, and WHOOP’s former CTO John Capodilupo, who has also joined Throne as Chief Product Officer.
The product isn’t a smart toilet per se but a smart add-on — a device that mounts onto a standard toilet bowl and uses computer vision and AI to analyze waste in real time. It tracks hydration, urological conditions, and signs of chronic diseases such as IBS, ulcerative colitis, and potentially even cancer. The prototype is in pre-production, with a full consumer launch slated for January 2026.
Throne’s unlikely beginnings and investor buzz
Throne’s origin story reads more like a Silicon Valley sitcom than a typical pitch deck. Founders Scott Hickle and Tim Blumberg, both engineers, came up with the idea during a casual poker game in 2021. What started as a joke quickly became real after a previous startup collapsed and one of their investors unexpectedly suggested smart toilets as their next big idea — a callback to their earlier conversation.
The team leaned on Hickle’s medical family background and began validating the idea through his mother, a gerontologist. They soon learned that waste analysis could deliver critical health insights, especially for patients with chronic digestive or urinary conditions.
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Serendipity and strategic partnerships
Despite skepticism from early backers — including one investor who demanded their money back — the team pressed on. They eventually connected with Lance Armstrong, who not only tested the prototype but invested. That led to more intros, including to Capodilupo, who initially came aboard as an angel investor before joining the executive team.
Throne has since established research partnerships with institutions like the University of Washington and the University of Chicago, validating the software’s medical potential. Both collaborations came through serendipitous introductions, underscoring the founders’ luck — or perhaps destiny — in building a tool the healthcare industry didn’t know it needed.
What’s next for Throne
With the seed funding in place and a veteran hardware product lead on board, Throne now focuses on scaling up for launch and securing further clinical validation. As AI expands into more health applications, Throne’s unconventional entry into the space could redefine how consumers manage chronic conditions—starting from the bathroom.
Other investors in the round include Accomplice, Long Journey Ventures, Night Capital, V1.VC, Retron VC, and Myelin Ventures.
