Munich Startup: What does your startup do? What problem do you solve?
Team fit: With Teamfit we combine exercise and team building in a unique way through a digital platformIn this way, we help our clients strengthen health, motivation, and community within their organizations. This is especially important today, as sickness rates in companies are at their highest levels since 25 years ago. The willingness to change jobs is also at an all-time high due to the physical separation caused by working from home and the associated lack of emotional connection to the team. This is precisely where Teamfit comes in.
Inspired by team sports like handball, soccer, or volleyball, we bring employees together into teams and motivate them to exercise more and lead a healthier lifestyle. This is regardless of location, pandemic situation, or home office situation. The formed teams collect – depending on the customer's wishes – exercise points, exercise minutes, or kilometers traveled through any type of exercise.
Teamfit's offering is deliberately broad, as there's something for everyone. From bodyweight training, running, cycling, hiking, yoga, pedometers, integration with external trackers like Fitbit, Garmin, Apple Health, or Google Fit to gardening—every movement counts. The primary motivation comes from the teams themselves, because no one wants to let their team down, or to put it more positively—everyone wants to help their team. In short, Teamfit creates motivation to exercise and a tremendously positive team spirit.
Munich Startup: But that's been around for a long time!
Team fit: There are many providers in the B2B market that offer digital movement activities or challenges, but no one that relies as consistently on teams as we do. The team is the central element on our platformaround which everything is built.
“The app was actually developed for our own use”
Munich Startup: What is your founding story?
Team fit: The app was actually developed for their own use. Alex and Philipp, members of the founding team, were looking for a way to motivate their handball team to do additional training in the areas of endurance and strength, which they had previously lacked. This is how the idea for the Teamfit app was born. The coach set the team a weekly goal, for example, 'We'll run 150 kilometers together as a team,' and everyone could contribute to the goal. Thus, for over three years, the app was used by only a few handball teams – primarily during preseason training.
When the coronavirus pandemic hit, including the first lockdown, the idea of exercising together via a digital platform and pursuing a common goal struck a chord with many people. The number of monthly active users rose entirely organically from under 100 to over 5,000 during the first lockdown and then to more than 150,000 during the second. At that point, it became clear that a company could be built on this foundation. Thus, Teamfit GmbH was founded in March 2021. After an initial focus on B2C business, a pivot was made in July, shifting the focus entirely to B2B.
The Pivot of Teamfit
Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Team fit: After our founding, we initially struggled with declining user numbers in our B2C business due to the end of the lockdown. The product was very one-dimensional at the time and actually benefited greatly from the situation. Admitting this and then embarking on a complete reorientation just three months after our founding was a difficult step, but in retrospect, it turned out to be absolutely the right one.
Munich Startup: How are things going?
Team fit: We're very satisfied. Although we've only been on the market for a little over a year, and our focus on enterprises has been even shorter, we've already acquired many great customers. These include large corporations with almost 100,000 employees who use our solution globally for all employees. Sales have so far far exceeded our plans and expectations, allowing us to expand our team and drive further growth earlier than planned.
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location so far?
Team fit: In fact, we haven't really heard much about the actual startup scene yet. Since we haven't worked with business angels, incubators, or VCs, we can't comment on this. Generally speaking, Munich is a very good location with many talented professionals and many large companies as potential customers and partners. However, the housing situation is problematic. For potential employees, the high rents in Munich are the reason they don't want to live here and instead work elsewhere or remotely.
“We also have a white label solution in our portfolio for large companies.”
Munich Startup: Hidden champion or shooting star?
Team fit: Actually, we currently position ourselves somewhere in between. Currently, we're leaning more toward the "shooting star" category, as Teamfit has quickly gained widespread recognition and, with over 300,000 users in German-speaking countries, already enjoys a certain level of popularity. In the long term, however, Teamfit could also move toward the "hidden champion" category, as we also have a white-label solution in our portfolio, especially for large companies. Where we ultimately end up remains to be seen: It really depends on some strategic decisions regarding how present we ultimately want to be with our customers' employees.
