Fitbee: Fitness & Nutrition Plans For Women With PCOS and Other Hormonal Imbalances
Recently, I’ve been researching the FemTech industry and trying to understand the various health/body issues women deal with, and how these startups are solving them.
During my readings, I came across a Zikoko interview with someone who lives with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), and something she mentioned stood out to me.
Because PCOS causes you to gain weight, it exposes you to fatphobic treatments from people including her first doctor who negligently suggested losing weight as a remedy. Not until she saw another doctor was she told that cardio-focused exercises and certain foods did more harm than good to people with PCOS.
This brand-new knowledge was what inspired my search for a solution focused on providing women with such important knowledge. This search led me to Fitbee - a fitness and nutrition web app and community for women in India with PCOS and other hormonal imbalances.
About Fitbee
Fitb.ee was co-founded in 2017 by Prathima Koppolu who's on a mission to improve the health and happiness of girls and women in India.
Fitbee started off as a regular fitness app for teens and young adults, but in 2021 pivoted to FemTech when they realized a large number of their user base were young women living with PCOS, hypothyroidism, and several other hormonal imbalances. Further research showed Prathima and her co-founder that 1 in 5 women in India suffer from PCOS, and given that Prathima herself was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when she was 16 and a healthy lifestyle helped her manage that, the pivot made the most sense.
Now through Fitbee’s several paid (and highly reviewed) plans, over 10,000 women have been able to easily access gynecological counsel, exercises, and nutritional plans that help them manage their conditions.
There‘s also the free community of over 800 active members called The Fitbee Hive where women can access and exchange free information on different topics.
About the team
The Fitbee team consists of expert fitness coaches, trained nutritionists, and gynecologists/health professionals. These are the top-level members:
Prathima Koppolu, CEO and co-founder: fitness enthusiast and former co-founder and COO of Catapult “an educational solutions company which was built to go beyond conventional education and maximize the potential of each individual.” She also has over 4 years of experience as a brand manager.
Avinash Rajapet, co-founder and Program Director: he’s a certified fitness trainer specializing in youth and women's fitness, almost 20 years experience as a fitness coach.
Ramya Prayaga, COO: She previously worked several roles at UBS, a Swiss bank.
Funds Raised
There are currently no records of Fitbee raising any funds so far.