With the last week of Shark Tank, a business reality TV show airing on Sony Television India, Growfitter, a health and wellness platform received Rs 50 Lakhs for 2% equity investment from Shark Aman Gupta, Co-Founder and CMO of boAt on the show.
Growfitter was founded by Sanmati Pande and Harshit Sethy in 2016. The startup has innovative ways to motivate its users to work out. The incentivized wellness platform has organized one-of-a-kind activities like Morning Fitness Party and Corporate Marathon. It has listed more than 12000 fitness centers across fourteen cities PAN India.
In January 2021, the Uncle-Nephew duo came up with a model which incentivized simple exercises like walking, running and cycling. In the Growfitter application, the user has to buy monthly/quarterly/yearly subscription plans for a minimal amount and after completion of targets chosen by them, they receive gifts or rewards. The rewards are based on the duration of your goals which are divided in short-term, medium-term and long term goals.
Growfitter has built a business in a very short span of time with 10 million registered users and 1 million memberships/bookings in the month of August.
Growfitter has raised $600K in 2017
In a Pre-Series A Funding, Growfitter received $600K from VC SQue Capital in 2017. Karan Chellani, Partner SQue Capital and Mukesh Makhija, Managing Partner of Grace Capital Venture also joined the startup as advisors.
Growfitter featured on Shark Tank India
On Shark Tank India, Sanmit Pande shared his personal story about being bullied in school for being too thin which drove him to become fit and sowed the seeds for the innovation of Growfitter. The application uses motion-sensing technology to detect movements and update your progress. The founder initially asked 50 lakhs for 1% equity.
Growfitter also aims to achieve a health insurance license, enabling them to not only provide users with rewards but also handling their hospitalization expenses. It has also collaborated with insurance companies like Aditya Birla Health Insurance where users can get incentives on their health insurance premium based on their fitness regime.
Growfitter also aims to achieve a health insurance license, enabling them to not only provide users with rewards but also handling their hospitalization expenses.
Sanmati Pande explains, “In today’s time, we pay a heavy health insurance premium, only with very few incidences in life where we can actually make a claim. On the other side, every claim is a big liability on the insurance companies. This has resulted in losses on both sides. With Growfitters, we offer an individual to maintain a healthy lifestyle by going regularly to the fitness centres and with the improved lifestyle, get a discount on his/her health insurance premium. A win-win on both sides.”
After a rigorous question-answer round on the episode, Shark Aman Gupta offered Rs. 50 Lakhs for 2% equity of the company. Aman Gupta expressed his interest in using research and development to validate the technology and in-depth analysis of the company to do the diligence.
With an aim to revolutionize the fitness industry, the investment received from Shark Aman Gupta can go a long way in the growth of the company. Growfitter can be used synonymously with the proverb ‘Health is Wealth’, with the mission to make fitness fun and rewarding.
