Cyprus-based investor Zubr Capital finances AI fitness app Zing Coach
Zing Coach, the Palta-backed health tech startup reducing growing rates of physical inactivity with its AI-powered fitness app, has today announced that it has raised a Series A funding round in equity and debt financing totalling $10 million led by Zubr Capital and Triple Point Capital.
The capital will enable Zing Coach to continue to develop revolutionary new features for its market-leading AI-powered fitness app, expand its workforce, and enter new markets.
Research shows that 54 per cent of the global population do not meet the World Health Organisation’s recommended levels of physical activity. With regular exercise proven to prevent health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes, there is growing interest in embracing healthy lifestyles. Yet, it takes time to build new habits, and many people make drastic and immediate changes that they inevitably fail to stick to.
Research shows 54 per cent of people give up on their physical activity goals within six months. However, Zing Coach makes maintaining healthy lifestyle changes easier by providing hyper-personalised AI-powered workouts that constantly adjust based on a multitude of variables, such as historic performance data, real-time vital readings, activity levels, and health and lifestyle data, to find the right balance between progress and motivation.
This is achieved using a wealth of cutting-edge technology and diverse user data to provide a first-of-its-kind personal trainer. Unlike alternative fitness apps, Zing Coach doesn’t rely on quizzes to gauge users’ initial fitness and progress. ZingLab, a suite of advanced fitness tests and movement analyzers powered by computer vision, and body composition scanners comparable to professional DEXA scanners, are used to assess new users reliably and accurately.
As users progress, they’re assisted at every stage of their fitness journey by their own AI Coach — which uses a large language model (LLM) and a personalised tone of voice based on the user’s emotional profile to form a connection with each user — designed to monitor their form and progress, offer tailored advice and insights, and offer praise and encouragement to keep them motivated.
While research shows 63 per cent of fitness app users quit after just one day and 91 per cent within 28 days, Zing Coach’s best-in-class AI-powered approach has proven to deliver far greater results. Data shows that users are 29 per cent more likely to continue using Zing Coach after day one when compared to competitor apps, while users are 25 per cent more likely to continue for a month or longer.
Delivering an unrivalled personalised fitness experience, users have already completed over a million workouts in the app. By supporting users throughout the fitness journey, the app has amassed over one million downloads since its release in 2021, maintaining impressive month-over-month user growth of 25 per cent — one of the many impressive metrics that attracted Zubr’s attention.
“When the first iPhone was released 17 years ago, it marked the beginning of the mobile app era, and innovation in the space has continued to exceed expectations with each passing year. Today, with recent advancements in AI technology, apps have become pocket-sized assistants, offering personalised advice and feedback with human-like communication. Digital fitness, in particular, is a huge area of interest for consumers and we’re excited to support Zing Coach, a true leader in this space. We believe this investment will enable the company to grow tenfold in the years ahead and pull ahead of its competitors in the growing fitness app market,” — said Viktar Dzenisevich, Investment Director and Partner at Zubr Capital.
The funding will enable Zing Coach to expand its growing team and strengthen its marketing efforts to reach new international markets. Likewise, it will continue to improve its new AI Coach, which educates and motivates by analysing individual training behaviour, text, audio, and videos to develop optimal workouts and motivation strategies tailored to each user. Tested in beta earlier this year, the AI Coach will be made available to all Zing Coach users this fall. Following its full launch, Zing plans to leverage its AI Coaching technology for other forms of exercise, such as pilates, yoga, and more.
“We have experienced exponential growth in the past year, but the vast digital fitness coaching market remains largely untapped. We want to make leading a healthy lifestyle and achieving ambitious fitness goals attainable for all by providing highly personalised workout planning and guidance. Typically, this would cost hundreds of dollars for just a few hours with a personal trainer — with Zing, it costs less than a cup of coffee each week. From a user’s perspective, our inclusion of applied practice and coaching sets us apart from traditional fitness platforms. We’ve set the benchmark and this investment will ensure that we can maintain our lead in the market,” — said Tanya Parfenyuk, co-founder and CEO at Zing Coach.
Focused on providing the ultimate personalised health and fitness experience, last year Zing Coach launched its Body Composition Scanner, which replaces the professional DEXA scanner with a smartphone, enabling anyone, anywhere, to scan their body and instantly receive important physical health insights. Committed to growth, the startup has gone from strength to strength in 2024, starting with its acquisition of Zenia — the market leader in real-time workout performance tracking and voice-guided assistance — in February. The company also recently launched the industry’s first AI-powered Flexibility Test and personalised stretching workouts to help its users improve their muscle flexibility safely and effectively.
ABOUT ZING COACH
Zing Coach is a fitness company, backed by health tech company Palta, that applies leading AI technology to create the most advanced digital personal trainer, which assesses your fitness accurately, designs the ideal program for you to achieve any desired goals, tracks, motivates, supports, and becomes your guide in your transformative fitness journey.
ABOUT ZUBR CAPITAL
Zubr Capital is a Cyprus-based technology-focused growth equity firm with more than $250 million under management and 20+ portfolio companies, including two unicorns. Among its investors are The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank, and Wargaming.