As a busy tech manager and father, Gopi Prashanth had only about 30 minutes a day for workouts and meditation — and he spent around half that time researching exercises on Google.
“For me to go and spend 15 minutes trying to find what I’m going to do for the next 15 minutes was a pain,” he said.
That experience sprouted Fit Hub, a Seattle-based startup developing a generative artificial intelligence chatbot that creates personalized workouts and meditation routines based on users’ individual preferences and limitations.
Prashanth, the company’s founder, is a former director of technology at Amazon, where he worked on various computer vision, hardware, and AI systems including a smart fridge project. He also worked as the vice president of engineering at computer vision company Landing AI and as principal group manager at Microsoft, among other engineering roles.
Developed on OpenAI’s GPT model, Fit Hub goes beyond ChatGPT because it was engineered with added layers through the guidance of fitness experts, Prashanth said. The app considers user-specific factors like available equipment, injuries, time constraints, fitness goals, target muscle groups, and even emotional state, he said. Each workout includes demo videos, timers, and a text-to-voice instructor.
Fit Hub auto-generates new plans while recalling previous workouts and meditations. For example, if a user did an upper body workout yesterday, today’s focus will be on core building. The idea is to help the user develop healthy habits and for the app to learn more and more about them.
The app is launching as a beta on iOS and Android, offering up to six free daily workout or meditation plans. A paid version will grant unlimited access to fitness and meditation content. Eventually, trainers and influencers will have the option to create in-app spaces for their content. Fit Hub plans to roll out new training items such as martial arts.
Fit Hub has a team of 12 employees and landed $2.5 million in seed funding from Clear Ventures in March 2022.
Several wellness-focused competitors exist in the market. Notable meditation apps include Calm, TalkSpace, Headspace, Well Brain, and others. On the fitness front, there are Peloton, Strava, 8fit, among others.
Prashanth said mental health and fitness apps are currently dominated by pre-recorded and non-customized content. However, he believes that this segment will “grow rapidly” as users gain the ability to personalize and control their own content through AI.
Prashanth said he has already developed a habit of working out and meditating due to the app, receiving daily notifications for his exercise and meditation routines.
“It knows that I only have about 15 minutes,” he said.
