Medi Assist invests $1M in Gul Panag-backed MobieFit

Medi Assist India TPA Pvt Ltd, a third-party administrator in the healthcare market, has invested $1 million (Rs 6.63 crore) in MobieFit, a mobile fitness venture.

The partnership will strengthen Medi Assist's presence in the consumer health and fitness market, the company said in a statement.

MobieFit, which was launched by startup incubator Prototyze and actress Gul Panag early in May, is a multi-product mobile fitness (mFitness) venture. It has already launched FirstRun, a voice-assisted coaching-based app and will be launching more apps in 2016.

"With our partnership with Medi Assist, we hope to take our mFitness offering to more than 5 million corporate employees in urban India," said Gourav Jaswal, director, MobieFit.

As Indians get more health conscious, investors are pouring money into fitness startups.

Early in May, TV Mohandas Pai, chairman of Manipal Global Education and Sharad Hegde, former  Infosys executive, invested in 2mpower Health Management Services Pvt Ltd, which has developed a wearable fitness tracking device GetActive.

Other companies offering similar fitness products include Nike+ FuelBand, Fitbit Flex and Jawbone.

Medi Assist was incorporated in 1999 as one of the earliest IRDA-licensed TPAs with funding from Nadathur Holdings & Investments (which has now exited the firm), the private investment firm launched by Infosys' co-founder NS Raghavan. In 2006, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's Reliance Health Ventures Ltd acquired the company.