Startups at the FitTech Summit 2019

June 4th marked the second year of the FitTech Summit in Munich. It was yet another successful event focused on fitness innovation held at the tropical Beach38° and hosted by Burda Bootcamp, a startup lab by Hubert Burda Media, one of the largest media companies in Europe. The summit, which first came together in July of 2018, featured international speakers and industry leaders in the areas of fitness, health and nutrition to offer insights regarding the FitTech industry.

Natalia Karbasova, founder of the FitTech Summit, kicked off the event explaining why fitness is the new religion before the day would see 70 speakers and 50 startups present sports and fitness insights and industry observations.

Three stages allowed attendees to plan their day around hearing from keynote speakers and panels, founder presentations or guided activity sessions. Before we have a look at the startups from the event here are a few slides from the presentation of John Peters of the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) that we found very interesting:

Pitch Competition Top 10

The most exciting event of the day for us at SportsTechX was the startup pitch competition, which allowed a handpicked group of startups to share their contribution to the future of FitTech. The top 10 startups in the pitch competition included a diverse group of companies and we’ve listed them below in alphabetical order.

A-Champs was voted second in the competition. A-Champs created a solution to get people to move with fun and gaming elements. Using the latest tech and simple game concepts A-Champs makes kids run, move and play around. In real life — away from any screens.

CellGarden is a self-growing garden that enables users to harvest fresh and tasty superfood right at home, offering a simple solution for a healthy, fresh diet.

Dynostics produces a wearable for smart performance and metabolism analysis. The mobile performance analysis system shows an athlete’s current fitness levels within minutes on the basis of their respiratory gases.

Flowletics ia a training app to increase mental and emotional fitness and helps ambitious people experience more flow and productivity.

Fun with Balls is merging real sports with engaging gamification to solve the sport participation issue in the digital age. Their first product, interactiveSQUASH has created an immersive system and platform that merges sensors, software and display technologies.

mealIQ offers an AI powered personalised nutrition platform to help people with health conditions plan and shop for meals in three clicks.

Mindshine finished third in the competition with a platform that offers personal training for the mind in a personal growth app. Mindshine helps users train their minds to “unlock your full potential and set yourself up for a happier and more successful life.”

Playo is a micro sports community builder application and a one stop destination to connect all sports enthusiasts and bring back ‘play’ in your life.

SensuSport is the first ever wearable training device to help golfers to practice their feel and touch. The SensuGlasses were created to change the way you play golf.

YFood Labs finished the competition in the top spot. YFood Labs creates a ready-to-drink complete meal. The YFood drink replaces a complete meal in a tasty, healthy and affordable way by providing 25% of daily nutrition.

Other Startups in Attendance

• 8sense is a coach that captures and analyzes your movements in the office or during sports.
• Actinate is a professional software solution with an app for members and an intelligence board for fitness clubs.
• Air up is a drinking technology flavoring pure water just by scent.
• Asensei is a Connected CoachingTM company specializing in digital sports coaching and smart apparel.
• Ate offers a mindful food journaling solution to help users track daily meals and associated emotions.
• Beneto Foods produce high-protein food made from cricket flour.
• Brandl creates a customized all-in-one protein shake.
• Brezzl is a smart camera for the fridge with value-added services, making grocery shopping easier.
• Burning Balance is a personal trainer and health AI coaching tool for a healthier work-life balance with a challenge to motivate and connect.
• Cult produces a high-tech luxury kettlebell in combination with live-stream classes to provide remote functional group workouts that can be accessed from home.
• Dagsmejan produces sleepwear based on newly patented fibre technology, helping the body to stay in a perfect climatic comfort zone.
• Die S Bar is bringing healthy and fresh food to the workplace.
• DOC Weingart offers an alternative to common energy drinks.
• e-Fásli produces a fine controlled temperature athlete rehabilitation.
• Enduco is a personal coach and all-in-one solution for endurance athletes.
• Evomo uses artificial intelligence to track bodyweight exercises to evolve the digital personal coach.
• Feed.fm believes the right music improves every fitness or wellness program.
• Fyndery is an online marketplace for course in the segments of food and sports, following a holistic approach for healthy living.
• Gradient Labs produce a biofeedback stretch band, SunAir, that can be used as a breathing controller to learn the right breathing.
• Ledsreact is a sports device to level up your team training.
• Nambaya provides a measurement of sleep quality based on medical data gathered at home in a familiar environment.
• Nootric provides online diets created by professional nutritionists.
• Novo X creates natural and healthy protein products from egg whites.
• Ocean’s Flavour creates organic certified seaweed products.
• Predator is a sparkling water with vitamins and superherbs that reduces stress while keeping you focused. Predator contains no sugar, calories or caffeine.
• Qus is the world’s first washable smart textile capturing and providing accuracy body data.
• Runnin’ City is an app with which runners (and walkers) can discover over 200 cities around the world.
• Teamgeist is an app for amateur football teams and players to manage athletic training based on heart rate detection technology via smartphone front-facing cameras.
• UVisio is a personal approach to sun protection, utilizing sensors, skin imaging technology and machine learning.
• Vasper combins compression, liquid cooling and interval training to drive the body’s production of growth and recovery hormones in a low-impact, 21-minute workout.
• Vitascale is a maskless wearable for breath-based metabolic and performance diagnostics.
• Wellnesys produces the YogiFi, an intelligent yoga mat that guides users through a mindful yoga session while tracking postures and providing real-time correctional feedback and measures daily progress.
• Strobel & Walter’s flagship product, the Yogaboard, a balance board that challenges your balance during training due to tis curved bottom.
• YoRoller is the first portable workout station based on FlyWheel energy.

Looking Forward to Year 3

Burda Bootcamp put on a great event full of exciting and innovative discussions surrounding the global FitTech community. While the 2019 FitTech Summit has come to a close, we’re already looking forward to next year’s event. It is clear that FitTech is an important industry and one that we’re keeping a close eye on, which is also reflected in the amount of money invested in startups of this kind. Be sure to checkout the European SportsTech Report to better understand the existing landscape for technology in sports and fitness.

Benjamin Penkert is the Founder of Berlin based SportsTechX — Data & insights about SportsTech startups and the surrounding ecosystem. You can get in touch via Linkedin, Twitter or email.