Withings, a Issy-les-Moulineaux, France-based connected health tech company, announced the acquisition of 8fit, a worldwide health, fitness, and wellness app with more than 40 million downloads. Available in 6 languages, 8fit offers efficient workouts, customized meal plans, and self-care guidance to users. Its capabilities further strengthen Withings’ ongoing strategy to develop personalized programs that combine sophisticated data with actionable insights that empower users to modify behavior. The company intends to invest more than $30 million in the next three years to accelerate the development of this personalized support.
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The acquisition comes on the heels of another deal announced last month. Withings acquired Impeto Medical, a French device company that makes a tool for monitoring peripheral neuropathies. That tech has already been incorporated into the company’s latest smart scale, the Body Scan, which it plans to release in the second half of 2022.
In the context of rising health concerns worldwide, users’ expectations and behavior have shifted towards a need for even more personalized support, through digital solutions such as health & wellbeing apps: acquiring 8fit is the first step in Withings’ ambition to provide value-added support to users, says a press release.
“In recent years, users have shown a growing need for solutions to help them (re)gain control over their health. Not only do people seek to understand their health by monitoring key health metrics, they also need to be supported, engaged and motivated throughout their journey to better health. We now feel it’s key to enter the era of the “product-service-data”, combining personal health data with personalized wellness plans, and further deliver on our mission to empower anyone to be healthier in the long-run. With the acquisition of 8fit, we are well placed to deliver a strategy that combines elegantly designed health devices, enhanced health data and experienced advice that is simple to adopt and designed specifically for our customers. ” said Mathieu Letombe, CEO of Withings.
Launched in 2014, 8fit promotes healthy lifestyles by providing personalized nutrition, physical activity, and mindfulness programs that address all aspects of its users’ health to help them achieve their goals. The app offers thousands of supervised and customizable workouts such as HIIT, boxing, Pilates, yoga or meditation, and hundreds of balanced, healthy, and easy-to-prepare recipes. Like Withings, 8fit puts the user’s health at the center of its personalized plans. Far from being a sports performance app, 8fit shares with Withings a vision focused on long-term health.
“From the services we offer, it’s clear that Withings and 8fit are aligned to help users achieve their health goals. We are excited to combine Withings’ expertise in connected health devices that collect accurate, quality data with our fitness and nutrition plans. Together, we will provide our users with a more holistic health offering to help them lead healthier, happier lives,” said Lisette Fabian, CEO of 8fit.
Since introducing the worlds’ first connected scale in 2009, Withings has continually innovated and built the largest connected health ecosystem in the market, comprised of smart scales, blood pressure monitors, smartwatches, sleep monitors, and thermometers. Its devices capture 20 vital health parameters such as blood pressure, ECG, weight, heart rate, activity levels, and sleep patterns to help people achieve health goals and detect changes in their health status.
Withings’ easy-to-use and non-invasive devices offer best in class health metrics that support a longitudinal understanding of holistic health. On average, Withings’ scales users weigh themselves every 3 days, suggesting strong engagement already with the device. When combined with behavior change nudges, users will be supported and motivated to make behavioral and lifestyle changes that improve outcomes.
The move to pair personalized health insights with Withings health data was first announced at CES 2022, with the unveiling of Body Scan, a sophisticated health station with the ability to monitor segmental body composition, assess nerve activity and assess heart rhythm using a 6-lead ECG. Going beyond weight management, when launched in H2, 2022 Body Scan will also come with in-app access to personalized, holistic plans encompassing sleep, physical exercise, nutrition, and stress reduction, as well as clinical specialists for those who require more support.
