Goqii to expand into UAE, US by March

Wearable technology company Goqii will be launching its fitness service in UAE and US by March, its founder and chief executive Vishal Gondal said today.
"We will be launching operations in Dubai (UAE) and US in the first quarter of next year," Gondal told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.
He said the company, which started operations in September and continues to be the only Indian wearable devices company, will be needing a fund infusion by mid-2015 but did not give any indication on the required quantum.
Gondal, who founded a successful gaming company before venturing into wearable devices space, said service by qualified coaches is the key differentiator between Goqii and other wearable device makers who offer only the hardware and the applications.

The number of such coaches, whose advice can be sought across the clock by an user, stands at 100 at present and will go up to 1,000 by mid-2015 as the business scales up, Gondal said, adding that the fund infusion is necessary for the expansion.
The company operates on a subscription-based model, under which users pay for getting tips from qualified coaches who can access entire data generated by an user through various technologies like accelerometers, GPS, mobile network etc. All the users get a wearable device which resembles a wristwatch, that has a touchscreen which displays a slew of parameters.

Gondal conceded there is a lot of information available on the internet for fitness freaks, but said the key to his business is the human touch and motivation by the coaches which would work for a user.
The company raised money from angel investors including Dr Shriram Nene last year and started operations in September this year by selling its service on Amazon.
It tied up with Microsoft Devices today, under which the device maker will be bundling in a three months subscription for the service, which includes the wearable device to buyers of three premium smartphones.