Fitness technology startup and TechCrunch 50 finalist Fitbit has raised $12 Million in Series C funding from existing investors Foundry Group, True Ventures, SoftTech VC and Felicis Ventures.
The company offers a device called the Fitbit Tracker and a companion web-based fitness data aggregation technology that tracks weight, nutrition, exercise, sleeping schedules and other health related data for users (you can read more about how Fitbit works here.)
The Fitbit Tracker is a compact wearable device that clips onto clothing or slips into a pocket and captures, through accelerometer technology, information about daily health activities, such as steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, exercise intensity levels and sleep quality.
The activity data collected by the Fitbit Tracker can then be wirelessly uploaded to the Fitbit website where users access all of the data and track progress toward personal and group goals. Users can also log nutrition, weight and other health information on the site in order to gain a complete picture of their health. The Fitbit API, which was released last year, allows third-party developers to integrate Fitbit data in their own applications, products and services and also to read and write data for users’ Fitbit activities, food logs and other data in real time.
Last Fall, Fitbit debuted a new version of its tracking device, called the Ultra. The device’s successor is slightly more accurate than the old version and also measures exercises better including more aerobic activities like floor workouts and running.
And at CES a few weeks ago, Fitbit debuted a new contraption—a wi-fi enabled scale called the Aria. The Aria, which costs $129.99, will transmit both weight and body fat measurements wirelessly to your FitBit account. In terms of measuring body fat, the scale has four transparent electrodes which shoot a safe low current through body and measures resistance to current, determining how much body fat you have.
You simply open up the Fitbit iOS or Android app via your mobile phone when close to the scale and the Aria will transmit the data to your FitBit account. So you no longer need to manually input this data on the web (or mobile) and the platform can get a more accurate view of your fitness.
As founder James Park explains, consumers were asking for the ability to close the feedback loop and the scale allows for that. The Aria will ship in April, and will most probably also be included in a set package with the tracker. Currently, the FitBit is available in over 5,000 locations including Target, Best Buy, Brookstone and REI and Park says we can expect the Aria to be on sale in those locations. He adds that the FitBit Ultra is also now sold in Canada and the UK.
“We’ve moved beyond being a single product company and are creating incredible digital health products and experiences. This funding will help us accelerate the hiring of the best hardware and software engineers, designers, product managers and marketers,” Park explains.
The new capital will be used scale the Aria, and for additional hiring. Check out our TechCrunchTV video with TechCrunch’s John Biggs and Park from CES below.
Fitbit inspires people to exercise more, eat better and live healthier lifestyles. The company is developing an ultra-compact wireless wearable sensor, called the Fitbit Tracker, that automatically tracks data about a person’s activities, such as calories burned, sleep quality, steps and distance. The Fitbit Tracker collects activity data automatically while it is worn by the user all day. The collected data is wirelessly uploaded to a website where the wearer can see their data and track their progress toward personal goals. The website...
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