WellMate – a health assistant mobile app designed to support users in nutrition, physical activity, and mental health. The app is being developed by the Grajewo-based company WellMate Sp. z o.o.
INVEST IN PODLASKIE: Grajewo, summer, 2023. WellMate is established, and you want to create a fitness/wellness app. But this is not the beginning of your journey, nor the first ambitious project you have participated in.
Karolina Ruszczyk (WellMate): Yes, that’s true. As the daughter of entrepreneurs, I have always wanted to follow in my parents’ footsteps and have been involved in various organizations since childhood. Now I see that in the startup ecosystem, there are the same people who created multiple initiatives at university and before. I think it’s a character trait that makes you want to “do things.”
The idea of starting my startup came to me quite a while ago, and in 2022, I even created an MVP of an e-commerce platform. The desire to develop as an entrepreneur led me to the MBA for Startups program at the Warsaw School of Economics, where I met my copartner, Radosław Gryta. Ultimately, I suspended my previous project to dedicate all my free time to developing WellMate.
WellMate – a fitness/wellness app, healthy lifestyle, personalization. A personal trainer and dietitian in one. Is this the starting point?
We were frustrated with the existing solutions on the market. I have been analyzing medical data for ten years. At some point, I noticed how much personal data is collected by mobile apps, smartwatches, and smartphones and how little they offer users in return. Popular mobile apps provide a set of five, ten, or even a hundred training or diet plans. However, there are 8 billion people in the world, and each of us is different, with different needs, habits, capabilities, and preferences.
We do not have ready-made plans and programs in our database. Each one is created individually for individual users, and by combining the forces of artificial intelligence and an expert (in the form of a dietitian or personal trainer), this support is one hundred percent personalized. Users who do not want or need a specific plan will also find something for themselves in the app. The app prepares reports with tips based on recorded data about meals, activities, and well-being.
An essential feature of the app is the Assistant. The user can ask for support, a recipe, an exercise, or a question. The Assistant also analyzes the user’s data and advises when it notices a drop in form, motivation, or well-being.
The fitness/wellness app market is highly competitive. It’s pretty crowded. How do you plan to stand out, and what sets you apart?
We are aware that the mobile app market in the fitness and wellness segments is a red ocean. We don’t see this as a threat but rather as an opportunity. Users often install and test new apps because the last one turned out to be a flop, so we focus on user retention.
When creating the app, we talked to 50 people with different experiences, needs, and preferences to ensure we weren’t building something completely unnecessary. The feedback we received both after the first round of interviews and after the first tests on mockups is auspicious. We discussed all suggestions, and some were implemented into the product – we listened to our users. Our solution will be personalized, easy to use, and user-friendly so that users don’t have to look for another app. We believe that WellMate will be the last fitness/wellness app they need.
We don’t want to be just a fitness/wellness mobile app – and although we know how difficult this task is, we believe that we can be associated with something more. We are already building a community around our product that focuses on physical and mental health. Most apps only care about one of these aspects, and we believe that you can’t be fully healthy by only taking care of your mind or only your body. Additionally, we want to educate our users; they can find health articles on our blog and social media, and we are also launching a series of webinars soon. All of this is to ensure that users see the actual value of our app.
You emphasize working on your AI model. Do you use your own tools and specialists?
We are developing an artificial intelligence model that will be perfectly tailored to our users’ needs. Radek and I have almost 20 years of experience working with data and software. Dr. Dorian Nowacki, the third copartner, holds a PhD in medical sciences, is a dietitian and psycho-dietitian, and supports us scientifically. Intensive work on the AI model will begin in 2025, and we plan to hire additional specialists in this field at that time and perhaps even collaborate with Polish universities.
What stage of development is WellMate at? What actions are you currently taking to bring the product to market?
In September, we are conducting tests with a closed group of users, and by the end of September/early October, the app will be available for download in Google Play and the App Store. Therefore, we are now focusing on marketing. Our website (https://wellmate.io) has a waitlist for the app (https://wellmate.io/#waitlist), where several hundred people have already signed up. We plan campaigns to create buzz around the app in the coming weeks.
Your app is aimed at a broad, international audience. Which markets do you want to conquer?
To begin with, the markets in the Visegrad region, Scandinavia, and the Baltic States. We know these markets best, and we know that people in these regions are very concerned about their health. In the future, we plan to expand across Europe, the UK, and the United States. Today’s technologies allow for quick and accurate translation of the app into different languages, and the only barrier is understanding the specifics of a given society.
How do you plan to encourage regular, long-term use of the app?
We have several ideas for this, including rewarding regular users with points and, eventually, with coupons and vouchers. However, the most important thing is that users find the app valuable and want to return to it. That’s why we listen to all the feedback and comments during tests and discussions about the app.
We want users to feel safe and comfortable using the app. Our values are clear – we talk about health positively, don’t blame ourselves for imperfections, and celebrate every victory, even the small ones, with our users. We encourage people to compare themselves to the previous day, not to other users or social media influencers. Within the app, we also create a space for exchanging experiences and feedback – we want to build a community full of health enthusiasts from around the world to support and advise each other.
What business model do you plan for WellMate?
The app will be available on a subscription model. After completing a two–week trial period, users can pay for monthly or annual access. They will also have the option to purchase additional queries for the Assistant.
In addition to the apparent technological barrier, you must overcome international legal and marketing barriers to reach end users. Do you have a plan for this?
Marketing and legal issues are the founding team’s weakest points, which is why we use external support. We work with excellent lawyers who are familiar not only with Polish law but also international law, mainly in data processing. We are 100% prepared in this area.
As for marketing, we consult all activities with specialists and test various actions to see what works and what doesn’t – we don’t want to burn the budget on campaigns that won’t bring results. Based on this, we analyze the results and plan further actions. We are open to adding another person with extensive experience, mainly with mobile applications, to the team.
Are you looking for an investor?
We are bootstrapping and creating the MVP (minimum viable product) app with our funds. We are also applying for various grants and participating in accelerators.
We have talked to many investors, and most of them are interested in the results of our launch. We will return to the talks once we have released the app, acquired our first paying customers, and analyzed the results. However, we want to cooperate with an investor who will support us substantively in various matters, so we take our time with the talks. We want to do our job correctly first, sell a valuable product, and only then focus on obtaining external funding.
The WellMate team consists of people with a set of very specific, specialized skills. From the entrepreneur’s perspective, is there a base of specialists in Poland, specifically in the Podlaskie Region, that you can draw from? Do the universities that educate them here meet the challenge?
The WellMate founding team is “scattered” all over Poland. Still, we often consult with specialists from the Podlaskie Region. Many excellent programmers, lawyers, data processing experts, dietitians, psychologists, and personal trainers are here.
We also notice a huge wave of young people who often further their education through various courses and earn certificates on their own to perform well in the job market. These individuals have incredible talent but lack confidence, mentor support, funds for additional courses, software, and conference trips.
An example of such a person is Aleksandra Radzio, an intern at the WellMate team who turned out to be a huge talent in graphic design for the app. Ola quickly integrated into the project, is proactive, and works hard—in short, she defies all the stereotypes associated with Generation Z. She comes from the Podlaskie Region.
We support Ola as much as we can, but there are many more young people like her. They need mentoring, guidance, and advice and will soon become great specialists. I am pleased to see that entrepreneurship in Eastern Poland is increasingly supported, and new programs are being launched. I hope there will be even more of these initiatives.
Finally, we traditionally ask entrepreneurs about our region. Is it worth putting down roots, investing, and developing a business here?
Absolutely! Podlaskie is a beautiful region that is very open to family businesses and, as you can see in our case, international initiatives. Thanks to various programs, the economy is developing very quickly, yet this does not disrupt the true magic of this place because only here, after tough negotiations, can you go for a relaxing walk in the Biebrza National Park.
Thank you for the interview.