The Australian start-up, mPort, which produces 3D consumer body mapping machines, is making its way to the United States.
Since their beginnings in high school, Dipra Ray, Andy Wu and Melody Shue’s company has taken off.
mPort has recently partnered with with US fitness powerhouse, LA Fitness, in a partnership that made a big splash in the exercise community.
The deal is worth a whopping $80 million over seven years, as the company plans to roll out 300-400 mPods to over 700 LA Fitness gyms across the U.S.
mPods use infrared technology in order to scan an individual’s body and relay their measurements and metrics. The machine gathers information such as body mass index (BMI), body composition, and body fat composition.
The mPod uses over 200,000 data points to accurately map the individual, and provide a life-sized 3D representation of the user’s body.
“As much as we like to think we are the same, we are not. A human body comes in every shape and size, and one size does not fit all when it comes to health and fitness. In a world fixated on weight and waist size, mPort’s mission is to help users understand their own body shape and live a confident hthier life,” said Dipra Ray, co-founder and CEO of mPort, in a statement to VentureBeat.
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The photo booth-sized pod only takes 7-seconds to provide an avatar which will help users see how their bodies are changing through different fitness routines and diets.
mPort’s expansion into the United States opens multiple doors in the fitness world and the company’s future.
“We’re thrilled to expand our footprint into the United States and to be working with LA Fitness,” said Ray via Australian Anthill. “We look forward to enhancing the health journeys of LAF members across their locations nationwide.”
mPort believes they can even expand into consumer’s homes for those individual’s who are extremely passionate about their fitness. But for LA Fitness members, they can use the mPod for no extra charge to their membership.
It is interesting to note that the mPod’s beginnings were not intended for the fitness world.
Co-founder, Dipra Ray, believed the mPod could gather an individual’s body measurements from the pod in order to give accurate readings on the correct fitting of clothes without ever trying them on.
And then the founders realized it could be used not just for clothing, but for fitness and health.
“Our vision is much bigger. We believe your body shape is valuable to you not just in terms of clothes and health, but for diet, exercise, car seat size, plane seats and more,” said Ray in a statement to the Financial Review.