17 South American sports-tech startups innovating wellness and fitness

Contxto – One of the hottest niche industries within the startup ecosystem is sports-related technology. Innovations involving fitness routines, personal training, as well as access to low-cost gyms, are only some of these newfound conveniences in today’s market.

Keeping this in mind, the following South American startups are proving what the region has to offer in terms of sports-tech. While it’s still evolving, the sector is evidently diverse based on various origins of startups.

With this, we see how various stakeholders (everyone from aspiring wellness gurus, athletes to trainers) are incorporating technology into their active lifestyles.

Neural Trainer (Montevideo, Uruguay)

Like the name may imply, Neural Trainer’s program strives to improve athletes’ physical and cognitive performances. In other words, the startup uses effective design and technology to create neuromotor workout routines. Some of these include agility and speed evaluations, visual and auditory stimulations, in addition to cognitive training. 

AZsportech (Montevideo, Uruguay)

This Uruguayan startup develops innovative technology products for athletes on a global level. Over time, it has worked with 104 trainers and 80 sports clubs in 20 countries. One of its products is the ClubManager platform capable of storing data about players, matches, training, evaluations, videos, etc. Besides ClubManager, other platforms include VideoStats, VideoTag, and PlayMaker for 3D training simulations. 

Fitpal (Bogotá, Colombia)

Users have unlimited access to over 500 gyms and fitness studios in Colombia with a Fitpal membership. As a result, this means there are over 82,000 different classes to choose from, depending on how far you want to travel of course. Some of the cities in its network include Bogota, Medellin and Cali. 

Treinus (Minas Gerais, Brazil)

Treinus is a sport-tech startup optimizing systems for sports consultants, coaches, personal trainers, academics, and studios. It also claims to be the largest sports advisory management system in Brazil used by both athletes and higher-ups. 

MuvPass (Santiago, Chile)

Chilean users have unlimited access to fitness classes across every major Chilean city with MuvPass. Moreover, monthly subscription services grant access to a variety of different activities at some of the best gyms and fitness studios. The startup is also supported by Chile’s Production Development Corporation, Corfo. 

Savy (Bogotá, Colombia)

Savy is a marketplace aiming to “uberize” the fitness industry with its collection of dynamically-priced classes. Over the platform and thanks to its algorithm, users find the nearest fitness class at optimal prices. In the end, the startup tries to remove barriers to membership to customers not wanting to commit to a fixed plan. 

Tempo (Lima, Peru)

Tempo is a mobile wellness app trying to change the way companies promote healthy lifestyles in the workplace. To reduce high levels of stress and sedentary workers, it works to give employees access to a network of fitness programs. With its corporate wellness platform, employees can earn points while burning calories for redeemable rewards. 

Sportsensor (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Progoal is Sportsensor’s major product helping soccer players improve technique, coordination, reaction time, speed, as well as agility. The wireless training system consists of six small soccer goals and is operable over smartphone or tablet devices. On the other hand, Panel is the startup’s other cloud-based product allowing users to view, compare and analyze teams or athletes.

Heartbit (Brasilia, Brazil)

Heartbit incentivizes users to workout with its health loyalty program. That’s to say, companies sponsor users to get active on this Brazilian platform. For the sake of friendly competition, the startup uses a point system sponsored by partnering companies. Subscribers earn points for rewards based on their performance each day. 

EntrenaYa (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Available in both Chile and Argentina, EntrenaYa offers another large digital marketplace of gyms and fitness centers. Customers can purchase flexible passes at “pay-as-you-go” rates in addition to other longer-term options.

Burn to Give (Santiago, Chile)

Over 700 million burned calories have provided more than 400,000 food deliveries over this humanitarian fitness platform. With Burn to Give, users convert burnt calories into life-saving nutrition for malnourished children. It’s a beautiful reciprocal model where every burnt calory from exercising becomes a calory for a child in need.

Suda Outdoors (Santiago, Chile)

SUDA is an app for athletes and adventure seekers alike. With thousands of routes across Latin America, Europe and even Africa to choose from, the platform allows users to explore, discover and share the best of outdoor sports. Everything from skydiving, hiking to kayaking is available. Last month, it even won the First National Tourism Startup Competition in Chile. 

Treinar.me (Sao Paulo, Brazil)

Treinar.me is an online portal for health seekers and personal trainers, making it a great tool in the Brazilian gig economy in the process. Specifically, users find and hire the right professional in the nearby vicinity. Customers can easily compare prices, qualifications or even review proposals from trainers. Therefore, clients are assured that they have chosen the right person. 

WIKI4FIT (Osasco, Brazil)

Videos, chat and personalized agenda features help users access fitness academies as well as personal training sessions. Due to its web and mobile portals, the application helps individuals track results over multiple channels. 

Gympass (São Paulo, Brazil)

Gympass empowers companies to engage better in the workforce via solid fitness routines. Under its B2B model, it grants users access to one of the largest networks of workout facilities with its monthly memberships. It is also one of Brazil’s youngest unicorns following a SoftBank investment. 

Fitco (Lima, Peru)

Fitco enhances sport and fitness centers’ operations. As a specialized CRM, Fitco knows what the specific pain-points of its customers are and solves them seamlessly. Not only does the platform track basic business KPIs, but it also serves as classes calendar, access controller, personnel manager, cashflow manager and sales tracker.

Fitness Pass (Lima, Peru)

Fitness Pass enables users to access a wide variety of classes by paying a monthly subscription to the platform. The company helps users explore and discover diverse activities all across town, manage their personal schedules and habilitate access in these partnering facilities.

-JA