On The Road To Fitness: GOQii Aims To Make Significant Improvements In Healthcare

Many chronic and lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, cancer, obesity, hypertension and heart disease are manageable or preventable if individuals make appropriate lifestyle choices. With the rise of technology and fitness wearables available today, it is easier to track your activity levels, dietary and sleep requirements which helps monitor one’s lifestyle.

"We need to ensure that our workforce is healthier and disease free. Even though there is a plethora of information on healthcare which is available on the internet, the problem arises when people don’t know how to make the right use of the information," says Vishal Gondal, CEO and founder, GOQii, a California-based fitness technology venture that offers a wearable fitness band paired with remote personalized coaching and has recently introduced the new heart care service in association with Max Hospital.

"There is a need to change our lifestyle and food habits. About 80% of heart disease requires prevention. This is where GOQii makes a difference. We go beyond fitness tracking and work with our partners to improve one’s health before it’s too late. Through our coaches and doctors, we are constantly aiming to improve the lifestyle of people. We are trying to change their habits and make a permanent shift in their lifestyle for a better future," Gondal said.

GOQii has introduced the new heart care service in partnership with Max Hospital that focuses on cardiovascular health. Through this specialised offering, the users will be able to connect to a cardiovascular specialist through the GOQii application and a tracker which can measure the heart rate. One of the key features of this tracker is the ability to connect the user with the cardiovascular specialist via the new GOQii tracker. The doctor will go through the data shared and provide specific inputs to the users on how to maintain good heart health.

In specific cases, if required the GOQii doctor will refer the user to a cardiac specialist at Max Hospital, Delhi and other partner hospitals which GOQii would disclose soon. The service along with the new Heart Care tracker is available at a subscription of Rs 2,999 for six months and Rs 3,999 for 12 months, available on Amazon.

Rohit Kapoor, senior director and chief growth officer at Max Healthcare, says, “Heart related diseases are on the rise due to lifestyle choices and people don’t pay attention to their health. We have observed that patients usually take action when their disease has advanced significantly. The GOQii Heart Care is an exclusive platform that connects the users and the specialists and enables them to work together towards preventative healthcare. We chose to partner with GOQii as they have been a frontrunner in the healthcare segment”.

GOQii had also introduced the fellowship program last month to nurture talent and provide mentorship that help them bring about change in the social and public environment.

“We have been instrumental in creating change in the health and fitness segment in the country by bringing together the various partners of the ecosystem. With the fellowship program, we hope to create further disruption in the country by introducing talent who make a difference in their chosen field and inspire others as well. Keeping in line with the GOQii philosophy of healthy living and preventive healthcare combined with good karma, the fellowship program would create strong leaders for the future,” added Gondal.

Currently, with no plans for raising funds for GOQii, Gondal added that 2016 was a great year.

"Just few months back, we received funding of undisclosed amount from Ratan Tata in his personal capacity. In addition, we also have big names on our plate such as the venture capital arm of Edelweiss. Both these funding opportunities boost our confidence to further accelerate our growth,” he said.

In November 2015, GOQii raised USD 13.4 million in Series ‘A’ funding which helped to build a health ecosystem.