It can take as many as 254 days to build a new habit, but one startup in the health wellness space is betting big that AI will drastically improve people’s chances of success.
Wellness and fitness startup Zing Coach just raised a $10 million Series A funding round led by Zubr Capital and Triple Point Capital. These investors join Palta, a London-based healthtech company that cofounds startups and provides them with early-stage funding. Palta’s other startups include the period-tracking app Flo and the diet app Simple Fasting.
Founded in 2021 by Tanya Parfenyuk and Walter Gjergja, Zing Coach is a consumer app that offers personalized health and fitness training plans. The startup provides photo-based body composition scans, motion-tracked fitness tests, and personalized workout routines based on a user’s goals, energy levels, and time to complete workouts.
Zing Coach’s plans start at $14.99 a month.
Thanks to the generative AI boom, the startup offers coaching plans more tailored to the individual than ever, explained Parfenyuk, Zing Coach’s CEO. She told Business Insider that the tech has been crucial in helping users stay motivated while following a fitness and wellness routine.
“Recent advancements in large language models have allowed us to develop a virtual trainer that can engage in natural conversation — and adapt its tone of voice based on the user’s emotional profile — to provide instant feedback on form, technique, and performance, helping them to correct their mistakes and push themselves when they feel like giving up,” she said.
Zing Coach joins many health and wellness startups that are boosting their offerings with AI. Heali, which uses AI to offer personalized nutrition plans to address chronic health issues, raised a seed round last fall. And Shimmer, which provides AI-based ADHD coaching for adults, landed $2.2 million in VC funding earlier this year.
With its new round of funding, Parfenyuk said that Zing Coach will focus on expanding into other areas of wellness, such as stretching, yoga, and pilates. Using AI to keep users motivated is a big part of that plan, she said.
“We believe motivation is the primary issue holding so many back from meeting recommended physical activity levels, so addressing that stumbling block remains our primary focus,” she said. “It requires building an AI fitness assistant capable of understanding what drives each user, spotting their struggles, and offering equal measures of empathy and encouragement.”
Here’s an exclusive look at the 13-slide pitch deck Zing Coach used to raise a $10 million Series A funding round: