Dutch Sport Tech Fund
invests in vitality app NewU

Dutch Sport Tech Fund invests in the Dutch scale-up NewU. The company has developed a vitality app that helps employees live healthier lives with personalized tips: the ‘Netflix for healthy habits’. NewU will use the investment to expand abroad. We ask founder/CEO Gijs Limborgh about his growth plans.

“Together with co-founder Bart Spangenberg, I was active as a competitive rower. We trained about ten times a week, had a passion for sports and health, and wanted to share that with others. That’s why we wrote a book about healthier eating and gave presentations on the topic. Then we decided to take it even more seriously and develop an app to help people live healthier lives. We discovered that there is a lot of knowledge and resources available for healthier living. In practice, however, there is a gap between knowledge and action. Almost everyone makes good resolutions after New Year’s, but hardly anyone is still keeping them a month later. That’s a shame. Our starting point was therefore: how do you bridge the gap between knowledge and practice?”

“Did you know that if you walk for 20 minutes every day, you will have covered the equivalent of twelve marathons in a year? Healthy behavior starts with healthy habits. That’s why our app makes it easier for employees to eat healthier, exercise, and sleep better every day. We focus on all sectors and all types of organizations, because every employee can benefit from NewU. It doesn’t matter whether someone is an experienced athlete or simply wants to quit smoking. Our app is used by employees of organizations such as De Alliantie, Vervoerregio Amsterdam, and ICU Medical, and is available in the Netherlands, Luxembourg, England, and Belgium.”

“The app consists of two parts: an individual and a collective program. The individual program is ‘the Netflix for healthy habits’. Participants receive tailor-made tips that take their interests into account. We want to make living healthier as easy as turning on Netflix; you don’t need to motivate anyone for that either. The system is completely anonymous, and the employer cannot see who is following which program.”

“The collective program allows employees to participate together in programs like Dry January or Stoptober. It’s not only more fun for employees to take on challenges together, but it’s also much more effective. If you all cycle as many kilometers as the Tour de France, that’s hugely motivating. The collective programs also foster connection between colleagues. In many organizations, employees work from home or at different locations. By letting them participate together in sports programs, a sense of connection is created between these colleagues.”

“We provide insight into how effective the programs are. In a dashboard, organizations can see the ‘return on health’: how much more vital their employees have become. We have also developed a portal where we offer proven effective tips and marketing materials. This way, we ensure that as many employees as possible start using the app.”

“In recent years, there has been a lot of international interest, so we are using the investment to scale up internationally towards Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, England, and France. The investment enables us to scale up even faster and to better meet the needs of organizations. This means we want to attract employees in the areas of sales, marketing, and IT. Ultimately, we hope that more than a million people will live healthier lives with our app, and we aim to become the largest vitality app in Europe.”

“We believe that NewU can grow even further and that Dutch Sport Tech Fund is the ideal partner for this. We have a lot in common. My co-founder and I are former top athletes, just like many professionals at Dutch Sport Tech Fund. We both often compare entrepreneurship to top-level sports: working hard together to reach the top. With NewU, we want to turn all employees into top performers. This contribution to vitality aligns with the goals of the fund.”

“We benefit from the knowledge of Dutch Sport Tech Fund, such as insights in IT, but also how to scale a company internationally. The network is also valuable: the fund knows athletes and top athletes, which is useful in developing a health app. We are very proud of this investment and the show of confidence. In the coming years, we will show what more we can achieve.”

Investing in, among others, NewU via Dutch Sport Tech Fund is possible from 100,000 euros. Interested? Request the Dutch Sport Tech Fund brochure.