FlexifyMe takes the traditional route to treat chronic diseases

In 2017, Manjeet had a hectic life as the founder of an edtech startup when he was diagnosed with Lumbar Spondylosis - a form of chronic pain that affects the lumbar region of the spine. 

At one point, he found himself exhausting all treatment options - physiotherapy, chiropractic, and sports therapy. When surgery seemed like the only solution, he decided to try one last alternative treatment at the behest of a friend: yoga. 

Within two months, Manjeet recalls that his condition had improved and life became much better. It was during the pandemic that he  took this suggestion of yoga to a friend, Amit Bhayani, a fitness enthusiast who used a gym on a daily basis and would later be his co-founder.

“When Covid-19 hit and everything started to shut down, I started to think about ways to remain fit. This is when Manjeet introduced me to Yoga and I was amazed at the positive results it brought to my life - physically, mentally, and spiritually. This is when we thought of building a wellness platform focusing on traditional health practices,” he says. 

Together, Amit and Manjeet, set up FlexifyMe in Pune last October. 

It is a website-based health and wellness platform that helps people achieve peak physical and mental wellness. FlexifyMe’s looking to change the way chronic illnesses are managed with a special focus on correction of lifestyles. Primarily, it looks to reverse these illnesses without the intervention of surgery or medicines.  

Redesigning HealthTech

FlexifyMe competes with the likes of HealthifyMe, Cult.fit, and Mindhouse. Amit says that many of these apps prioritise mostly either the physical or the nutritional aspect of health with very minimal regard to mental health. 

“At FlexifyMe, we wanted to take a holistic approach toward health where your mind, body and soul are given equal importance. That’s where Vedic yoga, meditation and Vedic nutrition come in and help the person become truly happy in their own self,” says Amit.

This is how it works 

FlexifyMe focuses on instructor-led live, interactive yoga, meditation and nutrition sessions. Clients can choose between one-to-one sessions or group sessions that are priced between Rs 500 to Rs 13,500 depending on the number of sessions or the kind of subscription they want - quarterly, half-yearly, or annual. 

Once they have selected a plan, users can access the standardised, artificial intelligence (AI) programmes on the website. As the user performs a particular move or asana in front of their laptop or phone camera, the AI will make accurate predictions about the person's flexibility, strength, susceptibility to chronic illnesses like spondylosis and other parameters in real-time. In order for more specialised training, the user will also need to add key pieces of information like their height, food habits and sleeping patterns. 

The clients typically are working professionals aged 30 and above. They generally are seeking natural solutions to lifestyle issues such as stress management, weight loss, and chronic illness. At present, there are 900 paid subscribers on the platform.

Building from scratch 

FlexifyMe isn't the first stint for Manjeet and Amit. Amit, who graduated with BE in Mechanical Engineering from Mumbai University, co-founded Telestax which was bought by Mavenir in October 2021. He was also in the core team that developed the application server JBoss which RedHat acquired in 2006. As for Manjeet, he had previously co-founded companies like Buddy4Study, Pinig Tech, and others. 

“Being from entrepreneurial backgrounds, we had good connections in the industry, I got a few technical guys, Manjeet got some sales guys and this is how we built our core team,” adds Amit.

FlexifyMe is yet to make a filing with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. However,  the team mentions that it usually makes a monthly revenue of $50,000.

While the ideas are in place, building a company like FlexifyMe is not without its challenges. For Amit and Manjeet, building the right team is one of them. As a result, they are constantly on the lookout for fresh hires. Based on the data collected, the team prescribes fitness and nutrition recommendations to the user. 

For now, it has 55 members, with around 40 Yoga, meditation and nutrition coaches.

Despite the challenges, the co-founders persisted. In May 2022, FlexifyMe raised $300,000 in a seed round from investors such as Ravi Bhushan, founder of BrightChamps; Amit Ratanpal, founder of Blinc Management; Sachin Anand, Sales Director APJ, Intel; and Dipen Shah, Managing Director at VAG-group. 

Commenting on the investment made, Amit Ratanpal, co-founder and CEO of Blinc Management says, “Considering that chronic pain/disease is a $110 billion market size and there is no one who is focusing on holistic Health, FlexifyMe has huge potential to grow.

HealthTech and the future 

The global health tech market was valued at $250 million and projects a growth of $880 million by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.3 percent from 2021 to 2030, as per the reports of Allied Market Research. FlexifyMe will soon look at expanding into other geographies, the first being United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Singapore. 

“Before expanding into international markets, we looked for the countries where the ratio of chronic illnesses was higher and natural therapies were accepted as a potential cure, along with the people’s awareness and inclination towards yoga. Hence, Dubai emerged as one of the growing markets for us,” Amit says.

FlexifyMe is focusing on incurring a $100 Million Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) in the next three years with about 1 lakh paid customers.