A recent report noted that the Hong Kong-based subsidiary of a mobile game publisher and developer, which focusses on developing and publishing AI-based products to improve users’ health and fitness, announced that it has secured a US$1 million-dollar investment from two strategic investors.
The company said it will use the funding to advance the subsidiary’s body motion AI initiatives and potentially do app acquisitions.
The investors include a start-up investor focused on companies that it believes will have a global impact, and a Lithuanian businessman and a member of the E.U. parliament.
Along with the investment, the founder of the start-up will also become a chairman of the subsidiary.
The subsidiary was launched in March 2018. The company focusses on developing and publishing mobile apps powered by artificial intelligence (AI), that utilise gamification to improve the health, fitness, and engagement rates of users.
Pushing the Hong Kong Smart City goals
The move will help boost Hong Kong’s Smart City goals for a Smart Economy. In particular, the region seeks to continue to explore and formulate initiatives to by enhancing the overall business climate, particularly in areas of the technology-driven economy like Fintech and re-industrialisation; furthering the development of Hong Kong’s I&T ecosystem to attract more start-ups and investors from other jurisdictions, and attracting more leading talents and investments to enhance our city’s economic vibrancy.
Moreover, the country is looking to make people happier, healthier, smarter and more prosperous, and the city greener, cleaner, more liveable, sustainable, resilient and competitive.
Using tech to stay fit
Hong Kong and the world has seen a dramatic rise in the use of tech for fitness purposes.
According to a report, wearable fitness technology has become as much a part of peoples’ wardrobes as their regular accessories. Activity trackers are being seen more and more on people’s wrists, monitoring everything from how many steps they take daily to food intake.
In the same vein, the use of fitness apps is also on the rise. According to another report, the current fitness app market in China (and Hong Kong by extension) is experiencing a rapid increase.
Even small start-ups are quickly gaining popularity and attracting investors. Apps allow Chinese people to not only track their physical activity but also to share their results on social networks, which is very important to them.
The total volume of the fitness market in China was US$1.11 billion in 2016. Almost half of that revenue was generated by mobile fitness applications.
Another website notes that revenue in the fitness segment will amount to US$53 million in Hong Kong in 2019. In addition, revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2019-2023) of 6.5%, resulting in a market volume of US$68 million by 2023. The market’s largest segment is Wearables with a market volume of US$46 million in 2019. In global comparison, most revenue is generated in China.
Yet another report noted that analysts forecast that the global fitness app market will go grow at a CAGR of more than 29% during the forecast period.
The global fitness app market will grow significantly during the forecast period. Sports and fitness technologies are based on the use of data to improve and manage the overall athletic performance and fitness.
Fitness apps are being highly accepted in the market as personal advisers of sports and fitness. These apps gather big data, which can be transformed into essential and useful information such as the workout details of the user. Fitness apps are being largely used by athletes and coaches to enhance the performance of their teams by monitoring individual performance and analyzing the weak and strong points of players.
The high healthcare and hospital fees compel consumers to buy health and fitness apps, especially to measure calorie consumption, blood pressure, and heart rate. This enables them to track their health at home without the need to visit a doctor for a general check-up. This will boost the installation of fitness apps during the forecast period.
In this way, the aforementioned app is helping its Hong Kong customers (and others across the world as well) reach their fitness goals effectively and cost-efficiently, while simultaneously pushing the region’s Smart City goals.