GOQii

GOQii (pronounced Go-Key) is a fitness technology company headquartered in California that offers a wearable fitness band with a mobile-app, and personalised remote coaching.[1] The company was founded by Vishal Gondal, the former CEO & Founder of Indiagames. After closing its beta Beta program in April 2014,[2] GOQii became commercially available in India in August 2014.[3] The company has offices in Mumbai, India and Shenzhen, China and plans to expand its services to the Middle East, the United States, and Singapore.[4][5] Investors include Mitsui, NEA, Megadelta, DSG Consumer Partners, Galaxy Digital, Denlow Investment Trust, Edelweiss, Cheetah Mobile, GWC, Mr Ratan Tata and Mr Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

GOQii
IndustryFitness Technology
FoundedMenlo Park, California (February 26, 2014 (2014-02-26))
FounderVishal Gondal
Headquarters
Menlo Park
,
California
Area served
India
Key people
Vishal Gondal (CEO)
ProductsGOQii Vital, GOQii Run GPS, GOQii HR, GOQii Stride
Number of employees
200-250

History

After selling his former startup, Indiagames to Disney in 2011 for approximately $100M,[6] Vishal Gondal founded GOQii, a one on one mobile coaching and fitness tracking service. The idea for GOQii developed when he noticed that he wasn’t simply using the devices exclusively, but also sharing the collected data with a personal trainer who would then provide him with customized advice.[7]

The company embarked on a beta program with 1000 subscribers in early 2014 [8] before launching commercially in India in August.

In January 2015, the company launched a limited US beta only open to 500 initial customers in the U.S. Selected applicants receive 12 months of personal training through unlimited chat and monthly video calls over the company's mobile app, along with a free wearable device.[9][10]

In December 2018, GOQii announced the launch of two new smart devices focusing on cardiac and diabetes care. The launch was aimed to be in March 2019.[11]

Products and services

GOQii has a wearable fitness band which collects users’ (called players) activity and sleep data. A personal coach is assigned to a player who reviews this data and communicates via mobile app to guide them towards their health and fitness goals.[12]

A subscription fee is paid for personalized coaching and access to premium services.[13] The GOQii companion app allows users to share their stats on social media and tracks Karma points.

The app also supports a Hi-5 feature wherein a coach can congratulate a user for being on track.[14][15] Players earn Karma points when they meet their daily goals. They can use these points, which third party donors match in dollars, to donate to their chosen charity.[16][17]

On August 4, 2016, in partnership with Thyrocare and Max Healthcare, GOQii launched its new version, which included a "personal Health Locker" and a lifestyle doctor (called the GOQii Doctor), who is a qualified physician (MBBS/MD) and available on the GOQii platform for medical consultation.

In addition, a player can also take a ‘Health Risk Assessment’ test and get their ‘Health Score’ via the app.[18][19]

The Health Locker includes a diagnostics feature allows users to book tests, take them from home and get results directly.[20]

Key people

Founded by Vishal Gondal, the board of directors includes Bala Deshpande, Alex Yao of Cheetah Mobile and Pravin Gandhi.

In April 2016, Amit Singhal of Google joined as one of the board of directors.[21]

The company has raised funding from Angel Investors including Amit Singhal of Google, Neeraj Arora of WhatsApp,[22] Marco Argenti of Amazon Web Services Mobile, Anil Godhwani of Habitera, Steve Luczo of Seagate, Mike McNamara of Flextronics, Kanwaljit Bombra of Dell, Vijay Vashee of Microsoft, Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit Nene and Dr. Shriram Nene.[23][24]

Funding and partnerships

GOQii received $13.4 million in Series A funding led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Cheetah Mobile Inc.[25] with additional support from Great Wall Club (GWC), DSG Consumer Partners, Ilkka Paananen and Pravin Gandhi in November 2015.

Financial services firm Edelweiss entered a strategic partnership with GOQii and closed an investment round in early 2016.[26] GOQii tied up with Axis Bank to collaborate on wearable devices for its customers offering them the fitness service and allowing them to make NFC payments from the device later in 2016.[27]

On April 20, 2017, Max Bupa Health Insurance announced a three way tie-up with GOQii and global reinsurance company Swiss Re to provide health and wellness offerings.[28] With the emphasis placed by The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) on driving the shift from ‘illness to wellness’, the offerings will cater to the preventive health care needs of consumers.[29]

GOQii’s "personalized wellness engine", equipped with solutions such as health coaching and health management tools would be offered under this tie-up along with Swiss Re’s technical assistance in creating relevant products and expertise to create risk assessment models for the future.[30]

Harvard case study

In April 2017, GOQii became the third Indian startup after Flipkart and Paytm to be featured as a case study on the Harvard Business Publishing Platform, a subsidiary of Harvard University that brings out books, magazines and leadership studies for MBA students. Through the GOQii case study, students will obtain lessons on Artificial Intelligence, Entrepreneurship, Healthcare and Technology.[31][32]

Public health

On World Health Day 2017, GOQii introduced Sanjeevani, an initiative to expand its preventive health and wellness ecosystem to a wider audience with integration into public health care. The pilot project was launched on April 7, 2017 in the villages of Vaghadi and Charoti in the Palghar District of Maharashtra which has a combined population of over 2000. For the pilot project, GOQii worked closely with Member of Parliament, Poonam Mahajan, who has adopted the villages under Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s, Adopt a Village Scheme – ‘Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana’ to convert the villages into a model village.[33] GOQii also aims to address issues such as anemia, malnutrition, women’s health and diseases predominant in rural India.[34] [35]

References
  1. James Temple. "Introducing GOQii: Startup Pairs New Fitness Tracker With Human Coaches". Recode. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  2. Nikhil Subramaniam. "GOQii band adds the human element to wearable fitness trackers". FirstPost. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  3. Nandagopal Rajan. "GOQii fitness band brings in a coach who makes you sweat good karma". Indian Express. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  4. Megan Rose Dickey. "This Founder Is Giving Away Fitness Trackers For Free". Business Insider. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  5. Press Trust of India. "GOQii to expand in US, Middle East; eyes $20 mn fund raising". Business Standard. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  6. Shivani Shinde. "Walt Disney acquires all of Indiagames in $80-100 mn deal". Business Standard. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  7. Parmy Olson. "Meet The Wearable Gadget That Outsources Your Personal Trainer To India". Forbes. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  8. Vikas SN. "Vishal Gondal's GOQii Launches Fitness Tracker Paired With Human Coaches". Medianama. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  9. Riddhi Mukherjee. "Vishal Gondal's GOQii launches US beta". Medianama. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  10. Richard Laermer. "GOQii Launches Exclusive U.S. Beta". Business Wire. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  11. Staff, Economic Times. "Tata-backed startup Goqii to launch two smart health devices." Dec 06, 2018. Retrieved Dec 12, 2018.
  12. Louie Lozano. "Wearable Fitness Startup GOQii Connects You with Real Coaches". Sport Techie. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  13. Abhishek Baxi. "GOQii Life Review: An Impressive Edge Over Other Fitness Bands". Gizmodo. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  14. Luis D. "GOQii sport wearable ditches apps, pairs with actual fitness coaches". Phone Arena. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  15. Anand Rai. "Indiagames' founder Vishal Gondal's new venture GOQii adds human touch to fitness devices". TechCircle. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  16. FE Online. "GOQii launches 'Coach', connects fitness enthusiasts with best trainers". Financial Express. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  17. Karan Bajaj. "GOQii, a unique new Indian offering". Economic Times. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  18. "GOQii launches new Band with reduced subscriptions, Health Services, NFC payments". FirstPost. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  19. Nidhi Singal. "Goqii launches new fitness band with services like doctor & contactless payment". BusinessToday. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  20. Angad Singh Thakur. "Fitness bands, with Doctors attached". Forbes India. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  21. BS Reporter. "GOQii ropes in ex-Google Search boss Amit Singhal as a board member". Business Standard. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  22. Sainul K Abudheen. "Vishal Gondal's GOQii bags funding from WhatsApp's Neeraj Arora, Amazon exec". VC Circle. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  23. Mahafreed Irani. "Indian entrepreneur launches fitness band GoQii, backed by Bollywood star Madhuri Dixit Nene". DNA India. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  24. Bhawna Gupta. "Fitness tracker GOQii raises funding". VC Circle. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  25. Catherine Shu. "Fitness Wearable And Coaching Startup GOQii Lands $13.4M Series A From NEA And Cheetah Mobile". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  26. Vijayakumar Pitchiah. "Wearables startup GOQii raises funding from VC arm of Edelweiss". VC Circle. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  27. Priyanka Sangani. "Axis Bank to launch wearables for its customers in collaboration with GOQii". Economic Times. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  28. KR Srivats. "Max Bupa inks alliance with GOQii, Swiss Re". Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  29. PTI. "Max Bupa ties-up with GOQii, Swiss Re for wellness ecosystem". Economic Times. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  30. MoneyControl. "Max Bupa ties-up with GOQii, Swiss Re for wellness ecosystem". MoneyControl. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  31. Sohini Mitter. "India's GOQii is now a Harvard case study". Mashable. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  32. Adamya Sharma. "Homegrown wearables startup GOQii is now a Harvard case study". Digit.in. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  33. "GOQii launches 'Sanjeevani' project to improve healthcare in rural areas". Digit.in. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  34. "GOQii launches health care project for rural India". Business Standard. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  35. Personal Trainers London
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