From the Technology Incubator to Kickstarter – Shape.Care is revolutionising the world of fitness

Incubation is the first step that helps a start-up to validate and define its business objectives, as well as to connect with experts in the field and find potential investors. It also offers the opportunity to rent office space at very affordable prices and to build business contacts. For many companies, this is the springboard to success.

The Krakow Technology Park and Shape.Care are an example of a successful partnership that has lasted for years. Piotr Hołubowicz, one of the founders, collaborated with the KPT Technology Incubator as part of his previous projects and start-ups, and  Tomasz Krzyszkowski, CEO of Shape.Care, has been actively involved with the local start-up community and the park itself during technology and start-up events. Everything suggests that this is just the beginning of the road to success.

Virtual personal trainer

Shape.Care is the first comprehensive system supporting both amateur and professional personal training. The solution was created by a team of experts in the field of new technologies, who come from the Technology Incubator of the Krakow Technology Park. It turns out that the solution can completely change the face of training. A campaign has just launched on the Kickstarter platform, which is intended to help the company deploy the product locally and internationally.

The innovative solution from Shape.Care is primarily designed to make training easier and to motivate people to exercise.

We wanted to solve a problem regarding the quality and regularity of exercise, which both we and our friends had. So we started wondering, what could motivate us and ensure the realization of our goals? After some time, we discovered that such a solution exists, and it is a personal trainer.

However, the prices of individual sessions led by personal trainers on the market are very high, and most of us could not afford them. So we decided to approach the problem a bit differently and create a tool that will support us on an ongoing basis, as a trainer in a digital form. Ultimately, we managed to design not only an exercise system, but also a tool for the trainer themselves, who thanks to it will be able to reach a larger group of exercisers at no cost and provide their services at a completely new level. As it turned out, and as the year 2020 showed so clearly, digitalization affects every aspect of our lives, and it is necessary to prepare oneself and one’s business for the changes – says Tomasz Krzyszkowski, CEO of Shape.Care.

 

Smart training

A frequent problem for people who want to start taking care of their physique is the lack of specialized knowledge regarding the execution of a given training plan. Ignorance of correct technique and incorrectly performed exercises can expose one to injuries and health problems. Furthermore, exercising with a personal trainer is still underestimated – this results not only from a lack of awareness, but also due to high costs. Consequently, motivation to exercise drops and there is a lack of visible results, which deepens the aversion to exertion and causes avoidance of training. To change this state of affairs, Shape.Care has created a tool that will make achieving your training goal easier.

Individual clients gain an innovative measuring device in the form of training gloves along with a mobile app for conducting personal training sessions, personal trainers can take advantage of an online training platform, and gyms and fitness clubs get an excellent reporting system and access to information.

Use of technology

The system combines the advantages of standard fitness tracking solutions (measurements of dynamics, activity) available on the market with a new approach and a complete set of measurement data (weight, force distribution, hand balance during exercise). The application is compatible with the glove and provides continuous training analysis; it is a system that enhances performance through highly accurate measurements. Thanks to this, it is possible to comprehensively determine the training capacity of the exerciser and adapt the exercises to their level of advancement.

Intelligent training gloves (Shape.Care Smart Gloves) equipped with a full set of measurement sensors enable quick and convenient automation of measurements during training. The gloves were created from high-quality materials using innovative 3D knitting technology. It is a pioneering tool, helpful especially during strength training, where both dynamics and precision are highly important factors.

The product, which is making its debut in the Kickstarter campaign, could change the face of fitness in terms of wearable solutions.

The missing link in current systems is the ability to facilitate the trainer’s work while maintaining full support and care for the exercisers. Furthermore, the measurement and analytical technologies in standard fitness tracking solutions or fitness apps operate on basic data and do not take into account the full set of information needed to determine total training volume or progress – says Tomasz Krzyszkowski, CEO of Shape.Care.

 

The innovation and effectiveness of the Shape.Care tool fills this market gap.

Development on the road to success

 

“We are currently in talks with many potential partners in the industry. These include gyms and fitness clubs, dietary supplement companies, and companies with clothing for athletes. In this aspect, our main goal is to sign a key partnership and integrate as well as implement our products into the partner’s broader offer.

 

The Kickstarter campaign, which we hope will end in success, will allow us to introduce the product to the market not only in Poland. This immediately brings with it the need for a global approach to the product and targeting it at consumers outside our country as well. The next big stage is to start sales activities based on a network of distributors, partners, and brand ambassadors, meaning personal trainers. Launching sales channels and selling the first thousand units of our product,” says Tomasz Krzyszkowski.

 

“Our goals are development, focusing on sales, and scaling them globally in subsequent countries in accordance with our strategy. In further stages, we plan strong R&D activities and expanding the system’s capabilities. We plan to take steps to verify assumptions and the demand for technologies,” the CEO of Shape.Care says about the plans.

Because in business, people matter most

Shape.Care consists of experienced and competent individuals who complement each other’s skills perfectly.

• Tomasz Krzyszkowski, President of the Management Board and the person responsible for software oversight, has many years of experience as a programmer and architect of IoT systems based on mobile applications and consumer hardware.
• Piotr Hołubowicz, co-creator of the project and R&D project manager, is also the founder of SEEDiA – a startup manufacturing solar-powered smart urban furniture.
• Jacek Szlendak, project partner and manager with extensive experience in the fitness/wellbeing and e-commerce industry. He has created several thriving brands. Currently, he handles sales process support and fundraising for Shape.Care as well.

In Shape.Care, it is not only the founders who are responsible for the project’s success. A truly exceptional team is working towards it. Among them are engineers with many years of experience in manufacturing hardware and software products, designers, programmers, graphic designers, marketers, and lawyers.

More information about the company can be found at: https://shape.care/

The Shape.Care campaign on the Kickstarter platform is available here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shapecare-gloves/shapecare-sensor-gloves-each-training-counts?fbclid=IwAR26kxxASn2UhNVKSHylKzc-sA2p29uxTSRasgsZm5B2NgP8hjF71KxYUsU