Fitness Forward

With trainers powered by artificial intelligence, apparel with data-collecting sensors and workout equipment connected to the cloud, India’s fitness technology market is just getting bigger.

- Divya J Shekhar

Since March, every few hours, Ria has been reminding Nilesh Shirvadkar to drink a glass of water. She has been curating all his meals, mindful that the 40-year-old suffers from cholesterol and hypertension. She has even been setting daily reminders for him to workout, challenging the Mumbai-based IT engineer to burn more calories and stick to his fitness goals. At the outset, Ria seems like any other wellness coach. Except that Ria is not human.

She is a voice on Shirvadkar’s smartphone that is powered by artificial intelligence (AI). She was created last year by Bengaluru-based HealthifyMe, after the fitness startup studied billions of data points on exercise and food, tracked on the basis of inputs given by users, and messages they exchanged with their respective trainers/nutrition coaches.

According to Tushar Vashist, co-founder of HealthifyMe, while Ria was initially only an assistant to the 500 human fitness experts on the app, the number of customers turning exclusively to Ria for guidance has increased from 5 percent in 2018 to 54 percent today. “Ria became the dominant engagement for people,” says Vashist, whose startup has 100,000 paid users and raised a total of $18 million in funding last year. Its roster of investors includes IDG Ventures India, Inventus Capital, Blume Ventures, Russia’s Sistema Asia Fund and Silicon Valley-based Samsung Next.

Vashist explains that AI has connected startups to a profile of customers who approach fitness differently. “People who can afford human coaches online are in the age group of 30 and 50. Ria-based Smart Plans, starting at `299, are typically bought by people between 20 and 35 years of age, who might not have `1,000 per month to spare for a human trainer,” he says. “AI is driven by the millennial market, which is comfortable using next-generation technology on their smartphones.”