The Covid19 pandemic has once again highlighted the need for everyone, especially more senior citizens to stay healthy. And with much of the planet on lockdown health and wellness platforms like True Coach and Fiit have seen their subscriber numbers soar.
Bold is a startup that aims to help improve the health of senior citizens, and in particular ward off chronic health problems. The San Mateo-based startup has just announced $7 million this week in seed funding led by Julie Yoo of Silicon Valley-based Andreessen Horowitz.
The online platform creates a personalised program for its members, (it appears to be available globally including the UK) which is driven by the information they input at the start. The programme can include everything from cardio and strength classes through to yoga and Tai Chi, and the number of sessions is optimsed to keep the user as healthy as possible. Seniors can join for free and have access to a limited collection of classes. For $15 per month subscribers get access to the personalised programmes and support from Bold’s coaches
Co-founder Amanda Ress told Techcrunch Rees said in an interview that the idea for Bold came from time she spent caring for her grandmother, helping her through health challenges like falls. “I kept thinking about solutions we could build to keep someone healthier longer, rather than waiting for until they have a fall or something else goes off the rails to intervene,” she said. Rees started Bold to use what she’d learned from her own experience in dance and yoga to help her grandmother practice maintaining balance to prevent future falls.
Bold is a concept that chimes with current movement thinking on health and fitness. Boris Johnson unveiled his active transport initiative Gear Change last year, and the government is also rumoured to be looking at offering incentives for seniors to purchase e-bikes.
There is clearly an opportunity for Bold to secure deals with health insurers to enable seniors to achieve lower premiums. Bold has plans to start rolling out partnerships with Medicare Advantage organizations and risk-bearing providers, which will help make their exercise programmes available to users for free.
UK Government figures from last year show that internet use by retired adults increased by 27 percentage points since 2011, to 67% in 2019, reflecting the increase in internet use in the older age groups.
