Editor’s Note:
Christine Magee is an analyst for CrunchBase.
Comment: Due to our post Hype OR Reality : (health and fitness ) WEARABLES
only every 3rd uses his wearables, but the trend is unabated. See the last developments !
Fitness tech startups are off to the races in the second half of
2014,
as venture investors seek to revolutionize the way we work out.
Seed fundings for fitness tech startups have been rising at a
consistent pace, and later stage rounds recorded in the past year have
boosted the aggregate amount raised to over $200 million – half of
which was committed last quarter alone.
Fitbit,
Basis Science, and
Misfit Wearables – all wearable
activity trackers – lead the way for total venture dollars raised in
the past four years. Despite the dominance of these major players in
the wearable fitness tracking space, the market is quickly expanding.
According to
a recent PWC study,
1 in 5 Americans own at least one wearable device, and 1 in 10 use it
daily. This is on par with tablet use in 2012, which has jumped to over
40% in the past two years. Jawbone
just launched its latest and cheapest activity tracker, the UP Move, last week to tackle the entry-level wearable market.
And consumer use of wearable fitness tech is just the tip of the iceberg.
One Million Metrics, a participant in the current
R/GA Connected Devices class,
is among a handful of startups offering wearable tech for the
workplace. Currently closing a deal with a large package delivery
company, 1MM provides wearable devices to track the movement and posture
of material handling workers.
Wearable fitness tech in the workplace provides employers with the
ability to reduce the risk of injury, accurately track performance, and
gamify athletic activities, such as lifting boxes, to incentivize
workers.
The majority of recent venture funding for non-wearable fitness tech has gone toward consumer fitness tracking platforms like
MyFitnessPal or
Strava. But gym tech giant
Netpulse,
which has remained relatively undercover despite raising nearly $40
million in venture funding, joined the race last quarter as it raised
another $19 million to tackle a less sexy side of consumer fitness.
Netpulse provides the software that powers cardio machines and is
currently working with 8 out of 9 major gym equipment manufacturers.
Aside from incorporating all entertainment, workout stats, and
communication with other fitness trackers into a single screen, Netpulse
provides the CRM system through which gyms can communicate with their
members.
“Netpulse has won the war and is now fighting all the battles in
relation to fitness tech inside of gyms – which is half of all minutes
spent on workouts,” says
Jed Katz of Netpulse investor
Javelin Venture Partners. “I’m very confident that you’re about to see a digital transformation of the $76B commercial fitness industry.”
Netpulse may have a monopoly on gym workout equipment, but startups like gym membership program
ClassPass, neighborhood fitness community
fitmob, and incentive-based gym workout tracker
Pact Fitness have cropped up with new methods of incentivizing users to work out.
“I think you need more than just tracking your steps every day – at
the end of the day that data gets boring,” says Katz, who has also
personally invested in New York-based indoor cycling startup
Peloton Interactive, “you need more interactivity.”
“Wearables funding is seeing 50% year over year growth, but there
seems to be a general shift in being more than just a fitness wearable
or health tracking app,” says
Halle Tecco, founder and CEO of digital health seed fund
Rock Health.
Tecco launched Rock Health, now one of the most active early-stage
players in the fitness tech space, after working in Apple’s healthcare
and medical app segment and realizing how unsophisticated these apps
were compared to those in the gaming segment.
Tecco says she’s still looking for niches that haven’t been covered yet, referring to startups like
PumpUp, a social network for active living geared toward women, and
Kitman Labs, a sports science company building injury prevention technology for athletes.
