Fueled fitness app wins Startup Weekend Toledo competition
Written by Duane Ramsey | | news@toledofreepress.comThe winning team at Startup Weekend Toledo developed a personal fitness app called Fueled during the 54-hour event.
The first-time local event, held at the College of Business and Innovation at the University of Toledo on Sept. 14-16, Startup Weekend Toledo brought entrepreneurs, business startup enthusiasts, software and Web developers and marketing gurus together to share ideas, form teams and launch a startup.
Members of the Fueled team, from right to left, Steven Plummer, Steven Chaney, Kyle Pollock and James Lu work on their winning fitness app during the Startup Weekend Toledo competition. Photo Courtesy Startup Weekend Toledo.
The Fueled team consisted of Steven Plummer, Steven Chaney, Scott Jones, James Lu and Kyle Pollock. The team put together their winning concept in 32 hours over the weekend, Plummer said.
“We all came separately and then came together on it. We had the right team in place to make it happen and prevailed in the end,” Plummer said.
Plummer said 27 ideas for startup businesses were pitched at the event, which resulted in seven teams making presentations on proposed startup businesses to a panel of judges.
“There were other teams with great ideas, but I thought we had a good chance of winning it after seeing all the presentations,” Plummer said.
Fueled, an idea originated by Plummer, was developed as an iPhone application that targets sedentary workers who sit for long periods on the job. Once the app is opened, the user pushes “Start” and receives a prompt telling them “to stand up and move.”
The Fueled app offers easy workouts designed for 30 seconds to a minute using its basic functions. Plummer said the short workouts could equal a 30-minute workout over the course of each day.
Users of the app can set the intervals for the workouts and select from a variety of suggested exercises or allow the app to surprise them with the prompts provided.
“It was a very entertaining and impressive presentation that included a demonstration of the working app that they designed over the weekend,” said Paul Syring, deputy mayor for external affairs for the City of Toledo, who presented the winners with their award.
Different themes for exercise, such as one for yoga, will be available as “in-app” purchases offered for 99 cents and up, Plummer said. The app is being offered free at this time.
“We think users will love it because they can work out and have fun at the same time,” Plummer said.
The team is developing apps geared toward wellness programs that companies could offer employees to use. It also plans to develop brand apps for individual companies or schools such as UT, Plummer said.
The team developed a roll-out strategy for its iOS App Alpha 0.1 application for its presentation in the competition. The roll-out plan includes a desktop version of the app, said Plummer.
“The coaches, judges and speakers were great. It was a good thing for the technology community in Toledo,” said Plummer, who lives in Holland and works as a portfolio manager for The Trust Company of Toledo.
The Fueled team won a free consultation with Rocket Ventures LLC and an intellectual properties consultation with Buchanan Nipper LLC, a law firm in Perrysburg. Plummer said the team plans to follow up on those offers in the next few weeks.
Syring said it was amazing to see what the seven teams came up with over the Startup Weekend. Other finalists included Fast Fruit, Follow Me, InchProve, RxMinder, Simply Grading and Sportal.
Syring’s personal favorite was InchProve, a concept for a nonprofit organization that would help revitalize the city with a social tech-based app that would list development opportunities for investment in real property-based enterprises.
Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures. The nonprofit organization based in Seattle can be found in more than 200 cities around the world with more than 400 events in 100 countries in 2011.
For more information, visit toledo.startupweekend.org.
Members of the Fueled team, from right to left, Steven Plummer, Steven Chaney, Kyle Pollock and James Lu work on the startup business at the weekend competition. Photo provided by Startup Weekend Toledo. Toledo Free Press Photo by Duane Ramsey.
Tags: app, fitness, Fueled, James Lu, Kyle Pollock, Paul Syring, Scott Jones, startup, Startup Weekend Toledo, Steven Chaney, Steven Plummer
