Obesity is on the rise in India. Since the fourth round of the National Family Health Survey, held between 2015 and 2016, the prevalence of obesity has risen from 21% to 24% among women and from 19% to 23% among men.
Poor eating habits and lack of physical exercise are of course some of the reasons. This coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw a sudden disruption to an active lifestyle, further exacerbated the problem. Unsurprisingly, more people are getting interested in physical fitness.
There are already a bunch of health and wellness-focused startups such as Fittr, HealthifyMe, Cure.Fit, and Possible to help people achieve their goals. The digital healthcare market is pretty big, too—poised to be worth $372 billion this year.
Another startup that has more recently entered this space is Mohali-based Fitelo. Launched in 2019 by Mehakdeep Singh and Sahil Bansal, Fitelo aims to help its users achieve long-term fitness and wellness goals by building it as a habit rather than a short-term fad.
This approach stems from the experience of the founders: the duo struggled with managing their weight in their younger years, and while they tried out different techniques towards fitness, the results were mostly short-term.
The startup aims to help its clients adopt a weight loss approach that they can easily implement in their lives. This includes a focus on nutrition, adequate exercise, and good sleep patterns, among others.
“There is no calorie counting involved. There is no portion control or following of fad diets. We don’t ask our clients to follow a hard-core gym routine,” Bansal told Entrackr. “There are no supplements or medicines [either].”
Fitelo’s platform has a three-pronged approach: first, they determine body type, composition, and requirements through a body analysis, followed by providing a personalized diet plan that is based on the client’s preferences.
Second, it uses in-house technology to understand client habits and help improve their lifestyle. Third, it assigns a coach best suited to the client to suggest diet and exercise plans— this is done through live classes, pre-recorded sessions, calls and chat consultations.
While many other startups offer similar services, one aspect that separates Fitelo from the rest is their approach through behavioral science. The idea is to help their clients steadily build a healthy habit.
Fitelo also helps clients learn how to read food labels so that they can make informed decisions before consuming any packaged food. The objective is to help people take baby steps.
“Once we have created a lifestyle profile of our client, using technology we are able to identify the gaps in their fitness. From a single platform, we can suggest interventions in all areas,” Bansal claimed.
Since its inception, the company has had more than 25,000 users across 50 countries and has onboarded over 200 coaches. Bansal revealed that the platform spans tier 1, tier 2, tier 3 cities and Indians living outside the country.
In addition to weight management programs, Fitelo offers disease management plans for diabetes, thyroid, and PCOD/PCOS.
In February, Fitelo raised $1.5 million in a pre-series A funding round from Guild Capital, and executives from Pareto Capital, Chaayos, and Country Delight.
Without disclosing the company’s financials, Bansal said that Fitelo has been profitable since the launch.
The company earlier this year said it is targeting Rs 250 crore ($31 million) in revenue in the next three years.
