ActiveLab teams up with global giants to find future 'fit-tech' innovators

ActiveLab has announced various new heavyweight partners as the Fit-Tech startup accelerator pursues a global focus for its second instalment launching on October 30.

Run by not-for-profit health body, ukactive, ActiveLab launched in September 2016 with an aim to revolutionise the way people move by matching fit-tech startups with business and physical activity.

The inaugural version saw 12 finalists take part in a three-month accelerator programme which has helped the cohort of innovative startups to raise more than £3.1m in early stage funding to date and launch pilots with major blue chips such as AXA PPP healthcare.

Steven Ward, CEO of ukactive, said: “With technology helping to dissolve the physical barriers that have traditionally dictated how we move, we’re entering a brave new world of innovation with exciting opportunities to get more people, more active more often.

“We want ActiveLab to become the global launchpad for scalable physical activity businesses, so I’m excited by the dynamic group of companies that we’ll be working with to take this accelerator to the next level.”

The second instalment of ActiveLab aims to build on this momentum in the fast-growing fit-tech sector by collaborating with a raft of new partners to offer international routes to market for successful applicants.

Physical activity giants, Life Fitness, and international technology conglomerate, Jonas Software, have been announced as headline partners for this year’s accelerator, with government agency Sport England also on board as a strategic partner.

They join ActiveLab founding partners AXA PPP and Tech City UK, as well as a stellar cast of mentors, coaches and high-net-worth investors in place to support successful applicants.

Ambitious product and service-based startups are encouraged to join the programme, which will identify and nurture truly innovative products and services that will shape the future of the health and physical activity sector.

Developments in data, social media, virtual reality and wearable tech are having a major impact on the physical activity landscape and ActiveLab will augment these new opportunities to produce pioneering health solutions to the global physical activity crisis, which in the UK alone costs £20bn each year and causes 37,000 deaths.

ActiveLab mentor, Jim Graham, a fitness industry expert and private equity veteran, added: “When I was COO at Phoenix Equity and the company invested in The Gym Group in 2013, I was new to the fitness industry.

“I became so hooked on the vibrancy of the sector and the public good that it does that I left Phoenix and joined The Gym Group as COO shortly after.

“With that chapter now behind me, I’m looking forward to helping entrepreneurs at the start of their journeys. The Gym Group is an innovation success story; I’m certain that ActiveLab will help new ones emerge and I’m excited to be a part of that.”

ActiveLab has been created for physical activity businesses focusing on growth and scale, where the product or service has been validated. The programme is open to teams who’ve raised capital, are in the process of doing so, or are bootstrapped. They must be able to demonstrate a high level of month-on-month growth through key business metrics.

The programme is open to innovations that can benefit the private, public or third sectors, either through international scalability or local concepts that can be widely replicated and demonstrate a capacity for social good.

The ActiveLab application runs from October 30 to December 22, with the 12 ActiveLab finalists due to be announced on February 28, 2018.

Over the course of the programme, these companies will receive a series of networking opportunities with investors and leading physical activity firms, as well as tailored mentorship and expert workshops on the challenges of scaling a business.

The programme will culminate in a high-octane event in June 2018, which will bring together leading speakers, partners, and influencers from the physical activity and technology spheres.

Teams will showcase at the event and take part in a series of live pitches, with the winner receiving the top prize of a premium accelerator toolkit – comprising a suite of products and expertise to fast-track their concept.