The Mumbai-based Growfitter, a preventive health and fitness discovery platform, in a strong reflection of investor enthusiasm for India’s emerging health and wellness technology landscape, has received $600,000 in Pre-Series A financing from San Francisco-based VC player SQue Capital. The amount will be utilized to strengthen the startup’s infrastructure powered by artificial intelligence, to scale up business, and stimulate growth in the domestic and foreign markets.

With this transaction, SQue Capital Partner Karan Chellani joins the Board of Directors of Growfitter, and Grace Capital Venture Managing Partner Mukesh Makhija joins as an advisor.

Growfitter, established in 2015 by Sanmati Pande and Harshit Sethy, is among the handful of Indian startups that are combining artificial intelligence with fitness interaction. The company provides rewards for adopting healthy habits and thus gamifies wellness through a B2B2C model.

Merging AI with Fitness: The Growfitter Model
Fundamentally, Growfitter provides an AI-powered wellness engagement platform that invites users to adopt and maintain a healthier lifestyle. With data-driven personalization and intelligent tracking tools, the platform rewards users with consistency, gamified goals, and connections to more than 8,000 fitness centers in 14 Indian cities.

“Building an end-to-end preventive healthcare platform based on AI and machine learning is our emphasis,” said Karan Chellani of SQue Capital. “Within 3-5 years, AI is going to be at the forefront of each serious tech startup, and Growfitter is already heading that way.”

Co-founder Harshit Sethy, M.Tech AI and Machine Learning from IIIT Hyderabad, contributes the technical foundation to Growfitter’s growing product. Sanmati Pande, a Chartered Accountant and MBA Finance, takes care of strategic operations. The vision of both is to create an end-to-end system in which fitness, insurance, rewards, and behavior change become intertwined.

Growth, Revenue, and Strategic Alliances
Growfitter has already raked in $1.5 million in gross revenue, selling more than 30,000 gym memberships. The site boasts a steady 25% month-on-month growth, with the user base focused in metros such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, and Kolkata.

It is also the sole technology partner of Talwalkars Better Value Fitness, a listed fitness chain and minority investor in Growfitter. Its SaaS backend platform is now live across 40 Talwalkars centers, helping gyms efficiently manage memberships, payments, attendance, and trainer scheduling.

In contrast to most B2C-oriented rivals like Fitternity, FitPass, and Gympik, Growfitter employs a hybrid B2B2C model, collaborating with corporates and insurance firms. Interestingly, Growfitter has partnered with Aditya Birla Health Insurance (ABHI) to drive its Health & Wellness portal. This enables users to avail premium discounts on the basis of validated fitness activity.

“Most individuals remit insurance premiums without ever filing a claim, while insurers are confronting increasing liability from sedentary living,” Sanmati explained. “We fill the gap—if you remain fit, your insurer rewards you.”

Creating Fitness Communities Through Innovation
In a first, Growfitter conducts morning fitness parties in hotels and public spaces. These events, supported by brands and partners, encourage interaction through Zumba, yoga, EDM workouts, and others. They not only strengthen the presence of the brand but also enable fitness centers to connect with new potential customers.

Growfitter is also expanding its machine learning-driven recommendation engine, which will offer customized fitness programs and monitor user performance—even between multiple gyms and fitness centers. This consistency of data provides users with a long-term perspective on their fitness progress and assists gyms with client retention.

“The biggest challenge is not desire, but clarity. People want to get fit but don’t know where to start,” said Harshit. “We’re solving that with AI-driven fitness intelligence.”

Addressing Challenges in a Fragmented Market
Despite India’s large population, gym membership penetration remains low at 0.37%, and 67% of global members rarely use their subscriptions. Growfitter aims to change that by making fitness not just accessible but engaging.

The startup has also launched a POS-integrated payment system, addressing the cash-handling deficit in gym operations. It allows gyms to accept payments through card, cheque, or UPI and see real-time transaction information on the Growfitter portal.

While competitors such as Fitternity and Book Your Game provide comparable CRM and SaaS platforms, Growfitter has extended capabilities by incorporating payment processing, insurance linkages, and incentive models—positioning it as a one-stop shop for consumers and gym partners alike.