Double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee has revealed the reasons why he has invested in a Liverpool-based fitness app which has recently launched to market and is poised to embark on a second fundraising round.
The British athlete has backed GoJoe which was founded by fitness entrepreneurs Will Turner and Phil Steele, who first met at Leeds University in 2003.
The company has recently secured clients such as Diageo, PwC and Capita and announced its first event to feature NFTs.
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Mr Brownlee said: "I invested in GoJoe because I am absolutely passionate about the role technology can play in inspiring and motivating us all to be healthier and fitter and live more active lifestyles.
"I think that GoJoe is a novel way of encouraging people to live a healthier life. The social aspect of motivation is important for everyone.
"It’s crucial for elite athletes, but I would say it’s even more important to help keep everyday people motivated, and GoJoe’s app has been created in a way to engage people on a daily basis, and ultimately help them become fitter, healthier, and happier."
Mr Turner added: "We’re ‘ordinary joes’ ourselves, and like many others, we have always struggled to get and stay motivated to exercise.
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"To combat that we’re building GoJoe and a community of likeminded ‘joes’. It’s all about transforming boring solo exercise into social virtual experiences with people you know in order to supercharge motivation levels.
"Our focus on personalisation and innovation has enabled us to grow much faster than expected, and is why we’re now looking to open another investment round this quarter.
"Very early on we secured global clients such as Diageo, PwC, Capita and others, who have used GoJoe to connect, engage and incentivise their workforces, many of whom have been dispersed because of Covid-19.
"Through NFTs, we will be able to offer rewards which will be redeemable for those completing challenges, and readily available in-app content will be offered to NFT holders.
"Designed to provide our users with an authentic user experience, the use of NFTs is placing us at the forefront the digital revolution, while encouraging people to enhance their physical fitness.
"Our goal is to get people enjoying exercise, and while there are data-led fitness apps that help fitness enthusiasts develop as an individual in their fitness journey, we have always felt that an added social element will not only help people start but will encourage people to continue to exercise.
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"To have the backing of a sporting legend like Alistair Brownlee is fantastic for us. Even though he’s an elite, double gold Olympic medallist, he’s super passionate about motivation and participation at all levels of sport and is really interested in technology and innovation.
"He also knows a thing or two about what it takes to get people moving, regardless of fitness level."