Elite Business Magazine Jan 2017

Fit n ess te c hnology

aren’t reaching the more sedentary layers of the British population partly because these groups often don’t have resources to spare on fitness. “The cost of fitness is not just that it may be expensive but it’s also about the cost of the time you’re forgoing as well,” Propper says. “Going home, changing into your running gear and then going for a run is much more difficult for people who shuffle between lowpaying jobs and picking up their children from school. You can carve out extra money but not extra time.”

That being said, Andy Bowness, founder and CEO of Bodireel, the personal-trainer app, still believes fitness tech can help people who are less well-off than fitsters become healthy without it costing an arm and a leg. “Tech can be used to get high-quality information to the end user very cheaply,” says Bowness.

“Instead of paying £50 for an hour with a healthcare professional, you can get quality help much cheaper through your smartphone.”

Given that 12.8 million Brits don’t exercise, it’s safe to say that startups stand to gain a lot by converting even a small proportion of that group into costumers. “If you can win over people who wouldn’t ordinarily use the product then

that would obviously increase your revenue,” says Bowness.

And once startups have gotten fitness tech into the hands of consumers, there are several ways in which it could help whip Britain back into shape. Firstly, it could educate people to make better choices. “It’s clear from the health literature that less-educated people have less of the knowledge and the skills they need to make good long-term decisions,” says Propper. Apps and devices that help people make better dietary choices and demonstrate how to exercise properly could therefore alleviate the strain obesity places on the NHS. Secondly, fitness tech could motivate people to do some type of physical activity in whatever time they manage to carve out for themselves. And every little helps.

“The biggest gains in health can be found in activating someone who does absolutely nothing,” says Ward. “If you can find ways through coaching, support, gamification or gentle nudges that makes people more physically active, that would be a significant win.” For instance, last summer saw about 65 million people hitting the streets in order to catch Pikachus and Bulbasaurs thanks to Pokémon Go. “This

mums on the move Baby2Body Melinda Nicci first had the idea for Baby2Body, the fitness app, when she was pregnant with her first child. Having always been a bit of fitness nut, it was only natural for her to pursue ways to stay healthy throughout her pregnancy. However, she was shocked by the mixed and inconsistent answers she got.

“Some people even told me to avoid exercise altogether,” she says. When looking into the matter Nicci realised that there was a huge gap in the market for pregnant women and new mothers who wanted to stay fit. Not one to miss out on an opportunity, she quickly set up her first business to help these female fitness fans.

After finishing a master’s degree in sport psychology and doing a quick stint at Philips focusing on consumer healthcare and wearable technology, she decided to take Baby2Body into the digital age and launched the business as an app in the beginning of 2015.

“Now, Baby2Body is a woman’s complete daily guide to a healthy pregnancy and a happy motherhood – addressing her wellbeing, fitness, nutrition and beauty needs,” says Nicci.

After joining Velocity Health, the UK’s first preventative healthcare accelerator programme, last year, the startup has raised $850,000 in an earlystage round and is now reaching over half a million women around the world.

With this support, Baby2Body is primed to help new mothers feel comfortable in their skin.

JANUARY 2017 ELITEBUSINESSMAGAZINE.CO.UK

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