We are all conscious about the significance of a healthful body. Money, education, status, or any other element in life will be worthless if you do not have the health to enjoy it. Even during a busy life, it is essential that you find the time to take care of your body. Be it taking a morning walk, doing workouts, or keeping a healthy diet, even the smallest steps matter when it comes to your well-being. In a world where you can find almost any kind of service on the internet, wouldn’t it be a bummer if you cannot find the aid for a healthy life? GOQii makes this possible with its mobile application and innovative products.
GOQii (1) is a health and wellness platform based in California which utilizes smart technology to provide an all-encompassing healthcare experience for the users. It was founded by Vishal Gondal in August 2014. GOQii is the best choice for anyone who is willing to improve their health or remain fit. The company has developed various products like GOQii vital, GOQii HR, GOQii Run GPS, GOQii Stride, etc. They have formulated a wearable fitness band that tracks the user’s physical activity and sleep patterns. Using the GOQii app and the personal assistance of guides, your fitness goals are not so far away.
GOQii hopes to expand its services to countries all around the world like the United States, Singapore, UAE, and other countries in the Middle East. Currently, there are more than 250 employees working for the company. The offices of the company are in Mumbai, India, and Shenzen, China, and the headquarters is located in Menlo Park, California. GOQii has investors from many powerful fields like Mitsui, Megadelta, NEA, Galaxy Digital, DSG Consumer Partners, Ratan Tata, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, and others.
Features of the GOQii ap
Through the GOQii app, you can view the information collected from the fitness band. This allows you to keep track of your activities and learn more about your body. You will also be assigned a personal guide who tracks this data and gives adequate advice to maintain your health. Whenever you make good progress, the guide can congratulate you, and you can share your achievements directly through social media. When a real person is observing your progress and guiding you through it, you find it easier to stay on track. The app adds your Karma point each time a goal is earned. These points can be transformed into actual cash which you can contribute to any charity of your choice.
The tracking of activity is free of cost, but you need to pay for a subscription to receive guidance from the certified coaches. For subscribed users, GOQii offers premium services and a personalized healthcare plan so that they can provide adequate care to each customer. The app also has collaborations with many fitness influencers and coaches who post motivational videos on the all for live streaming. The latest version of GOQii was launched in August 2016 with the help of its partnership with Thyrocare and Max Healthcare. It included the medical consultation of a registered doctor on the platform. The users are also provided with a Health Locker through which they can easily book for tests, and it will be carried out at your own home. The new version also runs a Health Risk Assessment, which will be scored by the experts at GOQii.
The birth of GOQii
The founder of GOQii, Vishal Gondal had previously founded Indiagames which was bought by Disney for 100 million dollars in 2011. During this free time, Gondal helped to kick off many innovative ventures and started thinking of a creative idea regarding wearables. Most wearable fitness devices collected large amounts of data but were limited when it comes to effectively utilizing it. The customer would observe their own activity and make their own choices which are not the best way to attain your fitness goals. He realized that combining a real-life health coach into the simple service provided by fitness bands could improve the market remarkably. When another human companion motivates and advises you, the improvements are massive.
This Visham started working on a fitness device that used the power of human touch to make it more effective. When the smart technology of a GOQii fitness band is combined with world-class professional coaches, the results were impressive. Vishal initiated the beta program of GOQii at the beginning of 2014, which was very well received. The company was launched in India in 2014, and one year later, they started another beta program in the US.
When you buy the fitness band, you are also acquiring a free six-month subscription to a fitness coach. You will be constantly in touch with them through chats and call while they keep track of your activity and guide you towards a healthier lifestyle. After this period of time, if you wish to continue the service, you can play 5999 rupees for another six months or 10,999 rupees for a whole year. The board of directors at GOQii consists of Bala Deshpande, Pravin Gandhi, and Alex Yao of Cheetah Mobile and Amit Singham of Google.
Achievements and Progress
GOQii was featured as a case study on the Harvard Business Publishing Platform. It is a subsidiary of Harvard University that develops books, magazines, and leadership studies for business students. GOQii was the third startup from India to be taken as a case study at Harvard. The first two were Flipkart and Paytm. In the same year, GOQii broadened its services to a broader audience through the endeavor named Sanjeevani. They incorporated their assistance into public health care so that more people can easily make use of GOQii. The first undertaking was carried out in the villages of Vaghadi and Charoti, which is situated in the Palghar district of Maharashtra.
Investments and Funding
The venture round of funding for GOQii was conducted in January 2015, led by the Smart Start Fund. They later raised 13.4 million dollars in a Series A funding led by New Enterprise Associates in the same year. A series B funding was conducted in November 2018 and they raised 30 million dollars. The major investors in this round were Denlow Investment Trust, Galaxy Interactive, Mitsui & Co etc. By the final round of funding led by Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd, the company had received a total of 52.6 million dollars through investments.
