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One subject that a lot of tech companies are focusing on is fitness. Just about every tech company in the mobile world has an app or device designed to help you get into shape. Withings, a brand that already makes health-related devices, just bought 8Fit. The company plans on developing subscription plans.
Withings bought 8Fit for an undisclosed amount of money
Withings is a company that’s known for its smart devices like smartwatches and smart scales. It has an established reputation, and it looks like the company wants to expand software-wise. It recently announced that it bought the health meal planner app called 8Fit. It didn’t tell us how much it paid for the app, but we expect it to have been a pretty penny. 8Fit has more than 10 million downloads and a 4.5-star rating on the Google Play Store.
The app is basically a hub for health and wellbeing. You can plan out your workout with over 200 workouts that you can choose from. The app itself will actually guide you through your workout with a step-by-step guide.
It doesn’t only focus on the fitness side of things. You can also find tasty and healthy meals on the app. According to the app, there are over 800 healthy meals that you can make at home. Each meal has an easy-to-follow recipe so you don’t get discouraged and opt for fast food.
This will be another revenue stream for the company
When one company buys out another, it’s usually because it will yield some sort of financial benefit. 8Fit has a monthly subscription plan to access all of the content, and we can guess that a piece of the revenues will be going to Withings. The company’s CEO, Mathieu Letombe, said that it’s looking to create personalized plans for people to get the most from their fitness ventures. This idea will combine the data collected with the hardware and with the “actionable insights that empower users to modify behavior.”
Basically, Withings has the hardware, but it doesn’t have the software. Buying a previously-established app seems like a quicker and easier solution than developing an app from scratch. 8Fit already has a following and an established infrastructure. Buying the app will be a lot easier than building an app, going through the growing pains, and marketing it.
We’re not quite sure just how the app will change once Withings holds the reins for a while. Right now, this deal seems to still be fresh, so it’s anyone’s guess.