The Slovenia Times made an interview with Luka Zupančič, one of the founders of Easycarb.

The Slovenia Times: How did you come up with the idea?

Luka Zupančič: The Easycarb project was founded by my brother, Klemen Zupančič and I in November 2013. We were both researchers in biomedicine and were frequently involved with diabetes as part of our academic pursuits. I focused my passion towards the disease and started participating in workshops on diabetes, as a volunteer, where I got the opportunity to speak with diabetics and listen to the challenges they face every day. I quickly realised how extremely outmoded and inefficient the current standard for managing carbohydrates was, even though it represents a crucial part of the process for maintaining the short and long-term health of the patients. I presented the idea for a smart digital carbohydrate tracker to Klemen and together we decided to make a change.

The Slovenia Times: What is the main purpose of the tracker and the solution it offers?

Luka Zupančič: Diabetes is the fastest spreading chronic disease of our time, affecting nearly 400 million people or one in every ten adults. It causes patients to lose the ability to appropriately store or 'spend' blood sugar - our body's main energy source. Most patients need to inject insulin to compensate as the body does not naturally respond properly to insulin. Patients need to precisely calculate the amount of carbohydrates in their meals and administer corresponding insulin doses. This process is very time-consuming, difficult and inconvenient and has remained virtually unchanged for decades.

Easycarb is the first complete solution for managing carbohydrates, intended to make the process simple, accurate and effective. It consists of a powerful app for smart devices combined with a dedicated portable Bluetooth scale for food weighing which, together, automatically calculate the exact amount of carbohydrates in a given meal.

The Slovenia Times: What is your assessment of the potential market?

Luka Zupančič: The primary user market is estimated to be the more than 387 million people diagnosed with diabetes (type I and 2) and is expected to increase by 50 million every year. When nutrition and sport enthusiasts, who are also potential users, are taken into account, the number increases drastically.

The Slovenia Times: What is the investment necessary for the realisation of your project and what kind of funding are you looking for?

Luka Zupančič: To finalise the development of Easycarb, amestimated EUR 100,000 additional investment is required. The team is determined to raise the required funds with their Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, which will launch on 30 September.

The Slovenia Times: Why is your solution special and different from the existing solutions?

Luka Zupančič: The main feature that distinguishes Easycarb from the existing solutions for diabetics is the complete integration and digitalisation of carbohydrate determination in food. While the competition mainly focuses on logging the activities of the patients, Easycarb aims to revolutionise the process of performing these activities. It is the first solution that offers a dedicated wireless scale for weighing food that communicates with the application's extensive integrated food database so as to provide users with precise information in a matter of seconds.

In addition to the enhancement in technical terms, the stand-alone Easycarb app will also be made available for everyone completely free of charge, which is not the case with most alternative solutions.

You can find more information about Easycarb here.