Fitness apps in expansion mode as covid boosts biz
1 min read 28 Sep 2020, 04:34 PM ISTFitness service apps and platforms have adapted to the dynamic situation by introducing a hybrid business model, which is a combination of physical fitness facilities and virtual fitness sessions
PremiumNEW DELHI: Health and fitness apps are seeing a surge in user traffic, engagement and retention as people turn increasingly to online fitness and workout programmes.
Startups like HealthifyMe, Fittr and Fitternity said they acquired more customers, expanded into related health services such as corporate wellness programmes and mental health and are even eyeing overseas markets.
HealthifyMe, an eight-year-old startup that offers coaching- and artificial intelligence (AI)-based nutrition plans, is tapping into the health-conscious markets of Singapore, Malaysia and other south-east Asian countries amid changing needs and lifestyles influenced by the coronavirus pandemic.
The company says it is doubling its revenue every seven months. “Covid has been a powerful factor along with our AI-based smart plans, which we launched 12 months back and is driving a huge percentage of revenue," said Tushar Vashisht, co-founder, HealthifyMe.
HealthifyMe was incubated by Microsoft Accelerator and has over 17 million users in 300 cities. The startup saw its growth rate spike in the past seven months with monthly revenue touching ₹10 crore, a run rate of $16 million and paid subscribers tripling from 2019, said Vashisht, adding that 70% of his customers come from non-metros and are in the 25-55 year age bracket.
Pune-based online fitness community Fittr has seen a 30% month-on-month growth in revenue. “The app has been downloaded over 650,000 times, our monthly active users have increased by over 70%, while the community has grown 100k," said Sonal Singh, co-founder and director, Fittr.
Singh said they conduct free home workout sessions on Facebook and on the Fittr app, and have created special personal training packages. About 30% of their users are abroad, spread across the US, UK, Australia, UAE and Canada.
Mumbai-based Fitternity which enables bookings across 12,000 fitness centres, went digital with gyms closing. It also launched virtual interactive sessions and a video-on-demand service called fitTV.
“Over the past few months, our new users and customer acquisition grew by 150%, with over 50,000 new users... we witnessed a substantial spike in demand for corporate wellness services with a 300% increase in inbound enquiries and a doubling the conversion rate to onboard corporates for their well-being," said Jayam Vora, co-founder and COO, Fitternity. Fitternity works with firms such as Adobe, IndiGo, Tata Starbucks and Amazon and believes that MNCs are going to invest heavily into fitness services post-covid.
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