HERALD: What is the latest in your company?
SUSHANT CHAVAN: Mobiefit Technologies develops mobile apps to help people get fitter and manage their health through simple activities like running, walking and equipment-free bodyweight workouts. We currently have over ten structured training programs to suit the different fitness requirements of users – from basic 5 kilometer running training for first-time runners, to intense home workouts for those who want to build an impressive physique. We have recently also launched walking programs to help people suffering from chronic health conditions (like obesity and diabetes) to help them manage their symptoms better. Most recently, we have launched a physical variant of these programs in the form of a running training kit, available for sale on Amazon. Renowned actor, activist and former Miss India, Gul Panag is our co-founder and is the face of the company.
HERALD: What is your field of specialty and any new inventions?
SC: Our focus is on creating simple and effective structured training programs to help people achieve their fitness goals. The activities we have chosen (running, walking, bodyweight exercises) can be done by almost anyone, regardless of age, gender or prior experience. They require no additional equipment to be bought, and can be done anywhere at any time. We have also developed our own proprietary SDK that uses a phone’s inbuilt sensors to track these activities in real-time. Our own linear motion tracking system that calculates how many calories a person burns while walking or running, in addition to other activity metrics like distance, pace, duration and GPS coordinates is also liked by our customers.
HERALD: How does your company help Goans?
SC: We have a lean team, almost half of which are local Goan candidates who gain enormous exposure to global standards of technology development. We also have a regular stream of college students interning with us.
HERALD: Who are your major customers?
SC: Our customers can broadly be split into two categories – individual and corporate. While a bulk of our users are from Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore; around 40 per cent of our total user-base is from tier two and tier three cities. We also have a sizeable base of international customers who buy our training programs from their local Google or Apple app marketplaces.
The second category is that of corporates which work with us to roll out our employee wellness solutions for their workforce. We have partnered with over 14 Indian corporates.
HERALD: What new innovation have you added in your product?
SC: Apart from our proprietary SDK technology, there are some other innovative features that we have built into our apps. For example, our virtual challenges see participation from over 3,000 users across 39 countries which compete to burn the most calories, or run the fastest, or walk the most, or do the most push-ups in a minute. We have also developed our own fraud detection system to make sure all participants have a fair chance at winning and make sure all our entries are legitimate.
We have also realised that one of the biggest hurdles in personal fitness is to keep up the motivation levels. To address this very real need gap, we have developed our own repository of inspirational fitness icons and influencers, and work with them to create different kinds of motivational and instructional content. These guest posts, videos and articles are available for all our users through both our apps, and also through our blog.
HERALD: How do you see the Goa market?
SC: Being a digital-only solution, our apps and programs are available globally through the Google Playstore and Apple App Store, so our focus has not been on developing a particular market. Having said that, we have seen that the concept of digital fitness training is yet to catch on in Goa, but we believe there is immense untapped potential in this market.
HERALD: Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
SC: Most of the working class today is suffering from some or the other kind of lifestyle related condition eg diabetes, obesity, depression etc. We are extremely bullish about organisations becoming more sensitive towards the wellness needs of their employees and doing meaningful intervention and running sustained initiative to help their workforce remain fit. We want to partner with such organisations and help them devise custom solutions to address their needs. We want organisations to move beyond token activities and engage in more meaningful and activity driven programs.
