GOQii To Expand Team, Enter Japanese Market With Mitsui-Led Funding

Mumbai-based wearable tech startup, GOQii, has raised a second round of funding led by Japanese conglomerate Mitsui & Co, as part of which the two companies also agreed to collaborate on GOQii’s expansion plans in Japan.

The Crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital and Denlow Investment Trust also participated in the round along with existing investors DSG Consumer Partners, NEA, Edelweiss Financial Services, Cheetah Mobile, along with Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, and Tata Group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata. Trifecta Capital also provided venture debt to the company.

According to an ET report, the company raised $30-$35 Mn in the Series B round, at a valuation of $100-125 Mn.  GOQii is now planning to expand into new markets over the next 12-18 months.

GOQii plans to use the fresh funding for talent and headcount addition, marketing and geographical expansion. The company will further strengthen its big data analytics and artificial intelligence platform to drive actionable insights and to provide a holistic view of a user’s health.

Founded in February 2014 by Vishal Gondal, GOQii is a smart wearable that helps people track their steps, sleep, and other physical activities, and then does more.

Vishal Gondal, CEO of GOQii, said,  “We are very excited to partner with Mitsui to drive the next phase of our growth. There are several areas of potential collaboration and our respective teams will drive an aggressive roadmap to deliver our goal of Reimagining Healthcare Globally.”

Mitsui’s investment will enable GOQii to penetrate further across India and will also mark GOQii’s entry into Japan. Koji Nagatomi, COO of the Healthcare and Service Business Unit of Mitsui, said, “GOQii’s product offering is highly complementary to our portfolio of healthcare investments in India and Globally and we see several areas of immediate collaboration between us and GOQii. We also see a strong potential for GOQii to enter the Japanese market and are ready to help GOQii achieve its vision and ambitions.”

Vishal Gondal first ventured into the Indian startup ecosystem in the 1990s with gaming company Indiagames when he was just 16. After running the company for more than 13 years, Gondal sold Indiagames to Walt Disney for $100 Mn.

During a recent Ask Me Anything with Inc42, Gondal talked about his vision of GOQii and said that “at GOQii, what we’re trying to build is a technology-enabled platform that will guide people, motivate them, and make them help others by becoming an agent of change. That’s how you scale the model.”