Withings buys 8fit in bid to expand services to nutrition & workout plans

Withings has announced today that it has acquired fitness and wellness app called 8fit as part of its more than $30 million investment into expanding its services.

The 20 strong Berlin-based 8fit has been around since 2014. The company’s app is designed to offer users nutritional advice, in addition to a plethora of healthy, easy to make meals as part of a customisable plan. The other aspect of the software is that it provides access to thousands of guided, tailored workouts such as HIIT, boxing, Pilates, yoga and meditation. Both of these offerings are something Withings does not have currently so the acquisition makes perfect sense.

8fit is an established player in this space boasting over 40 million app downloads. Both 8fit and Withings share a vision focused on long-term health. 

The news comes hot on the heals of the French outfit’s acquisition of Imputo Medical in January. This is another French medical technology manufacturer. Their claim to fame is a tool for monitoring peripheral neuropathies. Dubbed SUDOSCAN, the tech uses an electrical stimulus to measure sweat gland response in the palms and soles.

To remind Withings has announced at CES 2022 its new Body Scan smart scale that has the ability to track nerve activity, Afib and segmental body composition. Impute Medical tech is utilised for the first of these. Nerve activity analysis can potentially flag up certain conditions such as diabetes. 

Withings is a leader in the smart scale space. The company is credited with the inventing the first such device back in 2009. The Body Scan smart scale is expected to hit the market in the second half of 2022. We will certainly be looking to get our hands (and feet) on the device and provide a full review once the device is available.

Both of these acquisitions are part of a bid to increase the presence of Withings beyond its current ecosystem of devices. The company looks to be interested in building a subscription-based software product that will provide it with an additional revenue stream. Basically, Withings is seeking to combine personal health data captured by its smartwatches, blood pressure monitors and smart scales with customised wellness plans.

There’s a big market for that sort of thing and Fitbit and Apple have gone down this route a while ago. The French outfit plans to invest more than $30 million in the next three years to accelerate the development of their offering. Part of this will be spent on the 9fit transaction, although the exact amount has not been disclosed.

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