The company behind the GOQii smart band has managed to raise new money to further develop its product and life-coaching service. The fresh cash comes from WhatsApp’s Neeraj Arora and Amazon’s Marco Argenti, who will be joining the already impressive roster that includes the likes of Amit Singhal from Google; Anil Godhwani from Habitera; Gauta, Godhwani, Bharat Vasan from Mybasis; Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit Nene; Mike McNamara from Flextronics; and Taher Khorakiwala and Vijay Vashee from Microsoft.
“I am very excited to welcome Neeraj Arora and Marco Argenti VP as part of the GOQii Family both of whom have invested in GOQii in their personal capacity,” said GOQii CEO Vishal Gondal said in a blog post. “I know both Neeraj and Marco for several years, they can immensely help GOQii in its vision of helping millions of people become fit and happy by taking the wearable tech space to the next level by not just providing people with data but motivating them to bring about a positive change in their life.”
Compared to other fitness trackers, GOQii has a different business model. The band itself is free and they make the money by selling their live coaching service: Rs 6,999 (about $115) for a six-months or Rs 11,999 ($197) for an annual subscription.