Fitso, unfolding to ‘Fitness Social’ started with the vision to make fitness an addictive experience for every individual. If weight loss is your goal and running is your passion, then Fitso is your stop.
It’s a free to download app and all the features inside including standard plans are completely free of cost. They just charge a minimal cost for the personal training only.
Major features in the app:1. GPS Tracker: Get stats like distance, speed, split timings, elevation gained and calories burned
2. Running Plans: In-app running plans from coach to 5k to full marathon with audio guide
3. Workout Plans: In-app workout plans from weight loss to shaping your body with how-to video.
4. Calorie Counter: Track daily calorie intake and plan your meals better
5. Challenges: Compete with the world and challenge your limits. Check position on leaderboard
6. Social Feed: Know what your friends are doing and motivate each other by giving hi5’s
7. Groups & Activities: Users can join nearby groups and go for run or ride together. They can also create their activity in advance and users nearby get notified to join the activity.
Gurgaon-based Fitso was founded on 7th August, 2015 by three co-founders - Saurabh Aggarwal, Naman Sharma, Rahool Sureka.
In an exclusive interaction with Sujata Sangwan of BWDisrupt, Saurabh Aggarwal, Co-founder, Fitso shares his entrepreneurial journey and details about his startup How does FITSO work?- Fitso is a free mobile application you can download to track your run/walk/rides. You can watch workout videos and can do exercises at home or can follow weight loss regimes by expert trainers. If you need personal assistance from a coach or a nutritionist then you can choose any of the training program starting from Rs 185/- per week.
- It helps users to discover, connect and compete with potential running or cycling partners. Whether you’re getting off from couch to 5k or marathon training, interested in doing 7 minute workout at home, pursuing a weight loss goal, Fitso will be your partner in crime.
- The revolutionary app allows users to choose their fitness goal and provide customized program to meet the target goal in minimum duration. It accurately tracks your walks, jogs, runs & rides and provide the detailed breakup of nutrients in the food you are having. The whole idea is to make fitness accessible and affordable for everyone, users can do their work out anytime-anywhere, eliminating the need for a gym membership or expensive equipment.
- Users can hire an online personal trainer/ nutritionist starting from Rs 185/- per week who will make a customized training/diet plan and will be available on chat for any queries and will have a one to one call every week to motivate and carry forward the user in their journey to achieve their fitness goal
- Fitso surpassed expectations with a social networking platform in place which connects fitness freaks and their friends around the globe. They can indulge in mutual challenges, simultaneously keeping a track of the their own progress. Also allowing them to share photos, stories and highlights of your activities with friends.
- Fitso is really evolving fast and it keeps on launching interesting features every month or so
How did the idea came to start?We were brainstorming on how to make people more accountable for their health and fitness and how to give them affordable solution to their fitness and thus came out the idea of online personal training at Fitso.
Walking/Running outdoors or body weight workouts at home are activities that require comparatively lesser monetary and time investments – a pair of good running shoes will suffice compared with other outdoors activities. But one of the possible reasons people don’t follow through with their training schedules is lack of moral support and right knowledge. Having like-minded, determined people by your side makes a lot of difference. So to make the experience more social, provide relevant advice and training from experts, FITSO was born.
What are the special key features of your startup?- One stop solution for all the fitness needs for people of all age groups
- User friendly interface of the app
- Personal Running coaching for the first time in India for masses through mobile app
- Hiring services of best nutritionists and personal trainers is made affordable and accessible for everyone.
How are you different from the existing ones?- Two things differentiate us very clearly from existing ones:
1. Our distinguished product, which is a complete solution to all kind of fitness needs
2. Our focus on providing the best service and delivering results for our users
How much amount of funding your startup raised till now? What's your future plans of funding?We raised an angel round of investment of $200 K in January 2016 and now are in talks to raise institutional round of investment soon.
How do you monetize?We sell our online personal training services starting from Rs 185/- per week. This is the only monetizing model that we are focussed on currently. There are various other revenue streams which we will be opening in future once we reach a critical user base.
What were the challenges your startup faced while setting up the business?- Bringing good people together to build up a team is challenging.
- Initial adoption and educating users about this new way of training.
Market size and market opportunityHealthcare market is suppose to peg at $280 bn by this decade end in India. Fitness and preventive healthcare takes a big chunk of this. The fitness and weight loss market in India is more than $2 Bn and is expected to grow about 16-18% an year.
Traction details We have currently 40,000+ downloads, 35,000+ registered users, 15,000+ actively engaged users and we are targeting to grow to 1 mn+ user base in next one year.
