Best-in-show FitBark pet tech now groomed for 2019 launch on FitBit
December 17, 2018 | Austin Barnes
Kansas City-bred FitBark is set to unleash a new partnership with industry-leading fitness wearable FitBit in early 2019, the company announced Monday.
“For many of us, happiness is about helping others achieve their goals,” said Davide Rossi, CEO and co-founder of FitBark. “We may not have the motivation to get in the gym every day, but if we know our pets desperately need their exercise to stay healthy, we’ll go out of our way to make sure they get it.”
Davide Rossi, FitBark
“The commitment to the health of our pets is the key to our own health and happiness,” he added.
FitBark’s app and watch face will launch in the Fitbit app gallery within the first quarter of the year, allowing users to track their steps, calories, and other activity alongside and in comparison with those of their pet, Rossi explained.
Click here to read about fellow KC-based startup Sickweather’s integration into FitBit.
“This partnership enables us to put our mission on the radar of millions of health-conscious dog owners — with more than two-thirds of households owning a pet in several of our key markets,” Rossi said of momentum the FitBit partnership brings to FitBark.
Click here to read more about Rossi’s philosophy on the pet lifestyle industry.
Named by Startland as a startup to watch in 2017, FitBark — developed by Rossi alongside his sister, Sara Rossi and Fabrizio Filippini — aims to improve the physical fitness of consumers’ four-legged family members through the use of wearable tech.
Expanding its market reach, Fitbit launched the Fitbit Ace activity tracker, earlier this year — designed to monitor the physical fitness of kids — a move that aligned the brand with FitBark’s commitment to whole-family fitness, Rossi added.
“We’re humbled that Fitbit is now supporting our mission to include not only kids, but also fur kids in everyone’s health journey,” he said.
Click here to learn more about another FitBark partnership with Animal Planet.
Featured Business
2018 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Tired of waiting at the barber shop? An AI-infused platform grown at UMKC could trim time
Born in the barber’s chair, Kansas City-based ScheduleMe could take more than a little off the top for service-based retailers. The startup plans to use artificial intelligence to groom the haphazard scheduling process entirely, its co-founders said. “We discovered that [our barbershop] was having issues with scheduling. What we wanted to do was try to…
AudreySpirit fashions clothing to help chronically ill child patients feel like themselves again
AudreySpirit is designed to bring dignity to chronically sick children, said Donna Yadrich, detailing a specially created clothing line that doesn’t sacrifice practicality. “When my daughter Audrey was in the [Intensive Care Unit] the last time, I was looking at her arms and she just had so many wires and everything coming out of her…
KCultivator Q&A: Chad Feather ventured to China and back, stayed for KC kindness, community
Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The KCultivator Series is sponsored by Plexpod, a progressive coworking platform offering next generation workspace for entrepreneurs, startups, and growth-stage companies of all sizes. Age doesn’t define entrepreneurial talent and Chad Feather is proof, he said…
UMKC Enactus team kicks open front door to Kansas City innovation scene with final four win
As the number of teams left standing in the Enactus U.S. nationals started to dwindle, members of the competitive entrepreneurial development program’s team at the University of Missouri-Kansas City rode a pulsating wave of excitement and emotion, recalled Ali Brandolino. “I started crying,” added Brandolino, UMKC Enactus vice president of operations. “It was the most…