It started as a gag at a poker night in Austin. Now, it’s a venture-backed healthtech company building AI-powered toilet add-ons to monitor gut health—and it just raised $4 million in seed funding. Throne, a startup that began as a punchline about “smart toilets,” has caught the attention of major investors, health experts, and even Lance Armstrong. And the way it all came together is almost too lucky to believe. Throne’s smart toilet isn’t a toilet itself—it’s a discreet mountable attachment fitted with cameras and AI software designed to analyze waste for signs of chronic health conditions.
It monitors markers tied to gut health, hydration, and urological functions, all from the privacy of the user’s bathroom. Co-founder and CEO Scott Hickle says it could help track or flag conditions like IBS, kidney disease, colon cancer, and more. The device anonymizes images before analysis, adding a layer of data privacy.
Though still in prototype, Throne aims to ship its first consumer units by January 2026. With its potential for early detection and real-time health monitoring, the startup has gained both funding and validation partners. Research collaborations with the University of Washington and the University of Chicago are underway to prove that the software’s diagnostic capabilities are real.
The path to funding, however, wasn’t so clinical—it was wildly serendipitous.
An Unlikely Origin Story Fueled by Fortunate Encounters
The co-founders, Hickle and CTO Tim Blumberg, had previously worked on a nurse-hiring platform that flopped. When they informed their investors they might shut it down, one surprised them by suggesting they explore smart toilets. Hickle recalls laughing—after all, they had already named that imaginary company “Throne” during that poker game.
What started as a lark turned serious after Hickle consulted his mother, a geriatric doctor. She confirmed that analyzing human waste has real diagnostic value. That validation gave the team a sense of purpose—and urgency.
Still, not everyone believed in them. One early investor rejected the concept and asked for his money back. It stung, but they moved forward, leaning into Austin’s healthtech and startup scene.
One of their first breakthroughs came through a surprising bathroom encounter. After a referral to Lance Armstrong’s business manager, the team installed a prototype at the cyclist’s home. Armstrong, a cancer survivor, was intrigued enough to invest.
From there, the dominos kept falling. John Capodilupo, the co-founder of WHOOP and a board member of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, not only invested but eventually joined Throne as chief product officer. Capodilupo’s own experience with ulcerative colitis and his background in hardware made him a perfect fit—though it took months of convincing.
More serendipity followed. An old high school friend introduced Hickle to Rupa Health’s Tara Viswanathan, who in turn introduced him to lead investor Katie Jacobs Stanton of Moxxie Ventures. Another investor joined after a friend randomly sat next to a urologist on a flight and started talking about smart toilets.
It’s become a running joke inside the company: “It’s better to be lucky than good.” But while Throne’s rise may be paved with lucky breaks, Hickle believes there’s a deeper force at play. “The world wants us to do this,” he says.
Backing that belief are notable investors like Accomplice, Long Journey Ventures, V1.VC, Night Capital, Retron VC, and Myelin Ventures. They’re betting that Throne isn’t just
