The New Year is around the corner and with it, resolutions to get fit. However, as many will attest, staying consistent with workouts — especially if they involve hitting the gym to lift weights — is difficult.
A Hyderabad-based fitness and wellness startup Leverages AI to help users stay on track with their fitness goals. On Dec. 19, the company launched the Portl UltraGym — what it says is an all-in-one portable training system designed to make strength training accessible at home.
Portal Ultragym
Priced at Rs 59,990, this machine uses digital weighing technology and offers the same effect as professional grade gear in a compact design of 2.4 square feet.
The product operates on hydraulic and electromagnetic resistance (HERS) technology, and adjustable digital weights starting from 0.5 kg and going up to 70 kg, can be customized per user’s needs.
While the plug-and-play device doesn’t require an app to function, there is an additional companion app that allows people to watch demo videos and walkthroughs for more than 150 exercises to help them understand form, technique, and accessories.
The package also includes a thin barbell, hand strap, ankle strap, and hip belt.
The device comes with safety features to avoid injuries.
“There’s an automated inbuilt safety feature that relies on a lot of machine learning to determine the difference between struggling to complete a rep and not being able to complete that rep,” says co-founder Indranil Gupta.
UltraGym can also be integrated and used with the company’s flagship Smart Mirror Portal Studio. The company sees its product entering gyms and hotels as a premium service.
Discussing the challenges faced in building the UltraGym, Gupta says, “Solving for portability and a compact form factor while facilitating full-body strength training and range of motion was one of the main focus areas during the design phase. This ultimately guided the overall internal architecture and mechanism. which is currently used within Ultragym.”
The portal says it has collectively completed more than 20,000 hours of workouts from users worldwide and plans to double its user base in a year.
First steps
The portal was founded in 2021 by Gupta, Vishal Chandpeta and Armaan Kandhari.
With the startup, the founders wanted to solve the main challenges faced by fitness enthusiasts: finding the right trainer as well as the space and time to exercise.
“We wanted to bring all these solutions packaged into one thing that is highly interactive in nature, to people’s homes, and that’s where the genesis of the portal began,” says Gupta. your story.
Priced at Rs 1.25 lakh, the Portal Studio is a smart mirror with a 43-inch 4K screen, HD camera, embedded bio-sensor, edge-AI processing, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. The product also provides users with real-time currency analysis and feedback, and health monitoring.
Catering to both B2B and B2C segments, the company’s revenue comes from direct customers, additional services including membership plans, and gyms and luxury hotels.
The journey of building a fitness tech startup, however, was not without challenges. From sourcing components and creating initial prototypes to finalizing the hardware design and refining the software platforms for UI/UX and seamless integration, the company faced various hurdles.
With a product that uses hardware, software and materials, it was challenging in the early stages to operate with limited resources, says Gupta.
How do smart mirrors work?
Once the smart mirror is installed, the user enters their data such as height, weight, age, existing health problems if any and other fitness requirements which are then used to recommend possible fitness routines.
“It (the data) also informs our systems what not to prescribe to a person so we don’t exacerbate underlying conditions,” says Gupta.
Sessions include HIIT, self defense, yoga, dance fitness, cardio, meditation and pain management among others. And with AI-form feedback, sensors track the user’s movements and provide step-by-step guidance.
He adds that while direct customers receive personalized recommendations, hotels can receive customizations based on the needs of the services they offer to their customers, such as spa services.
Expansion plan
In May this year, the company secured $3 million in a funding round led by Bharat Innovation Fund and saw participation from existing investor Kalari Capital and new investor T-Hub Foundation.
The team currently has 35 members on board. It began selling Portal Studio in July 2022.
Its latest launch UltraGym will also soon be available on Amazon and some other ecommerce channels, says the co-founder.
The company is seeing traction for its smart mirror from Tier I cities like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi and Bangalore and some Tier II cities.
“We have designed UltraGym with a keen eye on the Indian market. However, we have also seen considerable interest for this from the UAE and surrounding regions in the Middle East,” says Gupta.
The company plans to expand further in the Middle East in the next 12 to 18 months, targeting markets such as Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia. It is also collaborating with hospitality brands including Taj Group of Hotels (IHCL), Accor Group, aiming to provide on-demand wellness solutions for premium travelers.
Hyper-personalization as the way forward
For home users, each device can be used by up to six members, with six unique profiles.
“Profiles are enabled by the primary user and this primary user essentially invites these unique members to their account. These are accessed through each user’s 2-FA (two-factor authentication) authentication via OTP authentication and registered email,” says Gupta.
Portal Studio
The portal also has subscription plans for Rs 750 per month where users can avail live and group sessions. They also have additional services such as nutrition, mental health, and wellness packages based on client needs, which they can choose to purchase.
Speaking about data storage and security, Gupta says, “We use multi-layered approaches to protect all user information, including state-of-the-art encryption security protocols that protect data both at the transit and storage levels… AI systems are built with privacy at their core and the data it uses. Anonymizes.”
Users can request deletion of their data at any time in the system, he adds.
Production, sales and marketing
While the first few batches of Portal Studio were built in-house based on pre-orders, the company expanded by hiring contractors which allowed it to focus more on the technical aspects. However, the assembly of key components and most important parts is still done in-house, says Gupta.
“Ultrazim is conceptualized, designed and developed in-house. Manufacturing is done by our vendors in India and abroad,” he added.
According to market research firm Fortune Business Insights, the global home fitness equipment market size was $11.60 billion in 2023. It is projected to grow from $12.10 billion in 2024 to 18.94 billion by 2032 with a CAGR of 5.8%.
Although the company refuses to disclose its revenue and number of units sold, it has a total of around 800-900 products. This capacity is now expected to scale to 1,000 per quarter to meet the growing demand, he adds.
According to data company Tracxn, Portl competes with New York City-based Peloton, and based in San Francisco tonal and tempo.