Withings, a French company, designs, develops and markets connected objects for the well-being and health of their users. To provide users with even more personalized monitoring and expand its range of services, the company has just announced the acquisition of the German start-up 8fit, after announcing the acquisition of Impeto Médical on January 11. With this latest acquisition, the company hopes to reach a younger audience to whom it will offer support for a healthy life and the prevention of health problems.

Withings was founded in 2008 by Eric Carreel and Cedric Hutchings. After selling it in 2016 to NOKIA, Eric Carreel bought it back in 2018 and surrounded himself with engineers, data science experts and health professionals. In 2009, it marketed the first Internet-connected Wifi scale that recorded weight, body fat and BMI measurements. It then diversified and produced objects related to the health field: blood pressure monitors, sleep monitoring sensors to measure apnea, watches… Currently, its flagship products are the Withings Body Cardio, a scale that calculates vascular age, heart rate and analyzes body composition and the Scanwatch.
Withings participated in the Covid stop project team in 2020. The Scanwatch is very useful during this pandemic because it can measure the oxygen saturation level in the blood of patients at home. It also detects sleep apnea, displays an electrocardiogram, measures the number of steps, cycling, swimming, heart rate…

The company plans to offer personalized monitoring to users of its products. To do this, it will invest 30 million euros over 3 years, the acquisition of 8fit is part of this investment but Withings did not communicate on the amount of the purchase. 8fit is a fitness and health application: it offers sports sessions, personalized menus and wellness advice to its users. Founded in 2008 in Berlin, it is now one of the world leaders in its field and has 40 million users. Eric Carreel, President of Withings states:

“The last few years have only confirmed a growing need within society: (re)taking control of one’s health in a proactive and sustainable way. It’s obvious that monitoring your health with reliable health data is essential, but we need to go further to continue to support our users in their efforts to adopt a virtuous lifestyle over the long term. We believe it is now necessary to accelerate our entry into the era of the “product-service-data” triptych; in order to offer a quality service, we need data; and for that, a product that generates it. Our ecosystem of easy-to-use and well-designed connected products already allows us to collect the best health data. To complete this support, we need to add to our expertise easy-to-adopt services and advice that are specifically designed for our users and allow them to stay motivated on a daily basis, be fit throughout their lives or even prevent health problems.”

A personalized program

The 8fit team offers a progressive fitness program as an annual subscription (59 euros). It includes HIIT, boxing, Pilates, yoga and meditation classes, recipes and personalized advice. Withings will be able to integrate this program into its products and if necessary, users will be able to be connected to health professionals. Lisette Fabian, CEO of 8fit, concludes:

“From the services we offer to our values, it’s clear that Withings and 8fit are aligned to help users achieve their health goals. We are excited to combine Withings’ expertise in connected health devices, which collect accurate and quality data, with fitness and nutrition plans. Together, we will provide our users with a more holistic health offering to help them lead healthier, happier lives.”

Translated from WITHINGS rachète 8fit, application de fitness et de santé