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Retrofit’s holiday meant more work, as close to 60 percent of Americans resolve to improve their health or lose weight for the New Year, according to CEO Jeff Hyman. Now a $5 million investment in the company helps cater to America’s race to lose weight, bringing Retrofit’s total funding up to $15.7 million.
Retrofit taps into a $50 billion weight loss market in the US, Hyman said. “Three times a year is how much the average American goes on a diet.” In January, the company is 50 to 75 percent busier than all other months of the year.
Their product works by balancing the right mindset, nutrition and fitness with experts such as nutritionists and psychologists that Skype in and hold clients accountable. The company also provides a wireless device that tracks weight and progress, so that decisions are data driven.
“The general theme is that diets don’t work,” Hyman said. “Its really a lifestyle change or behavior change: everyday decisions meal after meal, day after day.”
“That’s not as sexy as a fast cleanse or short-term diet, but it’s so much more sustainable,” he said. This philosophy has been successful for 90 percent of Retrofit clients, with the average client losing 20 pounds.
More than 100 companies nationwide including Google, Salesforce and Yahoo! either subsidize or fully purchase Retrofit for their employees. Retrofit solutions range from about $100 per month to about $300 per month.
“What we’re finding is that the cost of healthcare going up and being overweight drives so many conditions and issues,” Hyman said. “If you solve the weight issue for a company, you largely solve the health issue for the company.”
With B2B sales becoming Retrofit’s fastest growing segment since its launch in 2011, Retrofit has tripled in revenues and in number of users year over year. Now, they are aiming to double their 60-person workforce.
The most recent series of funding came just in time for New Year’s resolutions. It was led by Cambia Health Solutions and previous investor Draper Fisher Jurveston to assist the launch of two new products this year. One product, Retrofit Group, launched Thursday to facilitate group fitness meetings and collaboration with personalized dashboards for clients.
For Hyman, the larger goal is to carve a dent in the obesity epidemic. With currently 68 percent of Americans overweight, “we want to actually start to reduce the number of people in this country who are overweight, and that hasn’t happened,” he said.
“We would have to reach a pretty good size to make a dent in that number… That’s what keeps us going - that big goal - which is years away.”
Read more about Retrofit at Fortune Magazine or The Wall Street Journal.
Sonali Basak contributed writing to this story.
