Withings, the French healthcare wearables firm, announced today that it has acquired 8 fit, creators of the workout/meal planning app of the same name. The news comes as hardware manufacturers, from Apple and Samsung to Peloton and Mirror, are taking an increasingly advanced approach to content in the fitness space.
Berlin-based 8fit launched in 2014 and has grown into a full-service fitness offering that includes everything from workouts like HIIT and boxing to yoga and meditation and recipes. The company has raised $10 million to date, including a $7 million Series A in 2017. When we last contacted the company at that time, we reported that they were already generating more than $1 million in monthly revenue, courtesy of subscription plans.
The game is pretty much a no-brainer for Withings, which has been building a suite of health hardware with a range of products from smartwatches to scales to fitness trackers. With 8fit, the company adds an important layer of content to its offerings, while also generating an additional revenue stream that exists far beyond the initial hardware purchase.
“We now believe it is key to enter the ‘product-service-data’ era, combining personal health data with personalized wellness plans, and further deliver on our mission of empowering anyone to be healthier for the long haul.” term,” said the Withings CEO. Mathieu Letombe said in a statement. “With the acquisition of 8fit, we are well positioned to deliver a strategy that combines elegantly designed health devices, enhanced health data, and experienced advice that is easy to adopt and designed specifically for our customers.”
The acquisition will see the company integrate 8fit’s offerings into its existing software suite, delivering actionable insights based on the vast amount of data the company’s devices collect. The company said it plans to invest an additional $30 million to build out its connected fitness offerings.
“From the services we offer, it is clear that Withings and 8fit are aligned to help users achieve their health goals,” said Lisette Fabian, CEO of 8fit. “We are excited to combine Withings’ expertise in connected health devices that collect quality, accurate 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.”
In recent years, manufacturers of wearable fitness devices have made greater investments in the content space. Apple launched Fitness+ last year as more users were looking for ways to exercise outside of the gym during the pandemic. Google-owned Fitbit has its own $10/month premium service, which combines a deeper look at data with workouts. 8fit’s current offering is expensive, at $25 per month or $80 for a full year.
Regarding its price point, the company writes:
We are not a free app because there are no free apps. Some of the people you see in our app work at 8fit and there are many more faces behind the app that you can’t see. And we believe in fairly compensating people for their work. Creating 20-30 new workouts per month, posting 20-30 new articles per month, and all the programming that goes into the app takes a lot of work.
