"Wearable is not just a fitness device or a band, in next 3-5 years wearables will become your mobile devices." - Vishal Gondal, founder GOQii
If you haven't heard of GOQii, you might as well be living in the dark. Wearable technology is the next big thing happening in India and if we talk about the healthcare sector then they are probably the first one to grab their hold on this particular technology.
Get this, figures stated by Forbes are indicating that a staggering 71 percent of millennials want wearable technology. Predictions for 202 include a whopping $40 billion valuation, with a shipment of 400 million wearables. With all of this being said, there is one specific company that has started to rattle up the stratosphere, GOQii.
"It is similar to saying five years back that was a mobile phone need to have or nice to have," said Vishal Gondal, Founder and CEO, GOQii. "Mobile phone started as an item of luxury and later on it become ubiquitous. We are talking about the era where smartphone itself will disappear and your wearable will become your phone. So what I am telling you is that wearable is not just a fitness device or a band, in next 3-5 years wearables will become your mobile devices."
Menlo Park based startup GOQii is revolutionizing the way we train on a day-to-day basis. GOQii offers a wearable fitness band paired with remote personalized coaching. After closing its beta program in April 2014, GOQii became commercially available in India in August 2014. The company first started its beta run with 1,000 users and also has offices in Mumbai, India and Shenzhen, China and plans to expand its services to the Middle East, the United States, and Singapore.
The startup was founded by Vishal Gondal, the former CEO of Indiagames. After achieving critically acclaimed success and selling his company to media tycoon Disney for a whopping $100 million, he set out on a new mission to create GOQii.
The idea for GOQii developed when he noticed that he wasn't simply using the devices exclusively, but also shared the collected data with a personal trainer who would then provide him with customized advice. Boom! GOQii was born.
In January 2015, the company launched a limited US beta only open to 500 initial customers in the U.S. Selected applicants received 12 months of personal training through unlimited chat and monthly video calls over the company's mobile app, along with a free wearable device.
GOQii offers 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.
GOQii received $13.4 million in Series A funding led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Cheetah Mobile Inc. with additional support from Great Wall Club (GWC), DSG Consumer Partners, Ilkka Paananen and Pravin Gandhi in November 2015.