This Former Hockey Player Is Betting Glucose Monitoring Will Change How People Think About Their Weight

Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer always struggled with his weight. Even as a Division I hockey player at Princeton, he noticed his teammates could eat 5,000 calories a day without gaining a pound while he struggled on far less.

Same diet, same exercise, completely different results. The math never added up.

He spent years yo-yoing back and forth — losing the weight, gaining it back, losing it again. The cycle was exhausting and, more than anything, confusing.

It wasn’t until 2018, when a diabetic friend showed him a continuous glucose monitor strapped to his arm, that something clicked.

“Why are we waiting until people have a chronic care condition before enabling them to learn from their own body’s natural signals?”

That question became Signos — the first FDA-cleared glucose monitoring platform for weight management. The company has grown more than 10x in the last six months, positioning itself as a tool for anyone serious about understanding their own metabolism — including the tens of thousands coming off GLP-1 medications every day who need a new plan.

Related: This Founder Is Taking a Bite Out of the $50 Billion GLP-1 Market By Going Natural

Proving it on himself

Fouladgar-Mercer didn’t just build the product. He became its first customer, losing 40 pounds using it himself.

Then he did something most founders wouldn’t consider: once he’d maintained that weight loss for a while, he realized he could no longer evaluate whether the app’s features made sense for someone actively trying to lose weight. So he intentionally gained it back to test the product again.

Medical professionals had already told him the whole idea was “dumb.” He kept going anyway.

Related: How This Founder Turned ‘Dry January’ Into a Year-Round Movement — And Built America’s #1 Non-Alcoholic Beer Brand

Earning FDA clearance

The next problem was how to prove Signos actually worked — not just for him, but for thousands of people with different bodies and different metabolisms.

So Signos conducted one of the largest clinical studies on metabolism and weight loss, enrolling 35,000 participants.

“It was critical for us to understand and showcase in a clinically rigorous way, in a scientifically backed way, here’s what’s happening, here’s how it’s affecting you.”

The study results were compelling enough to make Signos the first and only FDA-cleared device for weight management that’s not a drug or surgery.

Related: This Startup Calls Itself ‘The Palantir of Restaurants’ — Here’s How it Turned Chaos Into 10X Growth

Making the data actionable

Another point of difference is the company’s use of AI to give real-time findings and advice. While other CGM companies provide data, Signos’s app tells you what to do with those numbers.

Log a meal and Signos predicts how it will affect your glucose. Get a ping on your Apple Watch about an incoming spike? The app suggests a walk or some squats before the damage is done.

The goal isn’t just weight loss. It’s building sustainable habits that last after the pounds come off.

“We found that if we get users to engage themselves — to ask ‘what happens if I eat this?’ — it’s much more likely to cause behavior change because they feel that sense of agency over the process,” Fouladgar-Mercer says.

Related: Two Near-Death Medical Emergencies Inspired This Entrepreneur to Tackle an Overlooked Problem With America’s Health

Staying focused

Building the company hasn’t always been smooth sailing. With 75% of Americans now overweight or obese, Fouladgar-Mercer’s potential market is almost everyone. That sounds like a dream — until you realize it also creates a paralyzing challenge: Where do you focus?

“You could take this in so many different directions,” he says. “Why can’t we help individuals lose weight and help them with their cholesterol? Help them lose weight and improve their lipid panel?”

Every opportunity looks promising. Every expansion makes sense. But saying yes to everything means building nothing well.

“The hardest thing is being able to say no to great ideas and things that you want to do, and knowing when to say yes at the right moment.”

While GLP-1 drugs continue to dominate headlines, Fouladgar-Mercer believes the next frontier in weight management isn’t pharmaceutical — it’s metabolic literacy.

“A drug doesn’t give you guidance on fueling your body or building lean muscle mass or nutrient efficiency,” he says. “We’re showing that real-time personalized feedback can help people make sustainable, healthy life changes. That’s something that lasts.”

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Sharam Fouladgar-Mercer always struggled with his weight. Even as a Division I hockey player at Princeton, he noticed his teammates could eat 5,000 calories a day without gaining a pound while he struggled on far less.

Same diet, same exercise, completely different results. The math never added up.