Ratan Tata invests in virtual fitness coaching platform GOQii

Leading industrialist and serial investor Ratan Tata added one more entry to his startup funding list by investing in virtual fitness coaching platform GOQii. The size of the funding was however not disclosed. The company, which is a leading player in the Indian wearables market, is backed by angel investors like Shriram Nene and his wife and Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit Nene and Neeraj Arora (WhatsApp). It offers a fitness tracker band coupled with a personal coach.

The US-based company had earlier raised $13.4 million in a series A funding round in November 2015. "With the recent developments and tie-ups on the platform, the investment from Tata is a testimony to us being a defining player of services in our category, making a long-term impact in people's lives," GOQii CEO and founder Vishal Gondal said.

Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, has invested in a number of Indian and global startups both in his personal capacity as well as through RNT Associates, a platform for several of Ratan Tata's initiatives and companies. These include firms like Snapdeal, Kaaryah, Urban Ladder, Bluestone, CarDekho, Sabse Technologies, Xiaomi, Ola, DogSpot.in, Tracxn, CashKaro, FirstCry and Teabox.

Also read : Ratan Tata makes his 1st investment in artificial intelligence – backs Niki.ai

According to the recent IDC report on the Indian wearable market, GOQii led the market with a 16.1 percent share in the April-June quarter of this year. The company has recently launched a new fitness band and aims at integrating doctors and health services as part of its plans to establish itself as a preventive healthcare company. It had partnered Max Healthcare as its hospital and medical partner and Thyrocare as its diagnostic partner to help its users book diagnostic appointments and consultations. Tata had recently invested in New Delhi-based food tech startup IdeaChakki as well. Earlier this year, he had also invested in Niki.ai, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbot, along with Ronnie Screwvala’s Unilazer, which did a follow up round to their first seed investment.