Courtesy of Moov
The Moov
The round of Series A funding was led by Banyan Capital, the same venture capital firm that led a round of funding for Xiaomi, the hot consumer tech company many people call "the Apple of China."
Moov also raised $1 million in two weeks during its crowdfunding campaign and $200,000 from angel investors in a prior seed round, bringing its total funding up to $4.2 million.
Moov appears to be focused more on the "virtual coach" aspect of its wearable, rather than simply tracking your movement and providing statistics.
Since the wristband comes with 3D sensors built in, it can essentially reconstruct your movements rather than simply track them. This means the Moov should theoretically be able to tell you more about your form and how to improve it, as opposed to rival fitness trackers that don't include 3D sensors.
The Moov, which is up for preorder for $79.95, works with a few apps specifically designed by the company that are tailored to specific sports or activities. Moov already has apps for running, walking, and boxing in the App Store, and plans to use its new round of funding to expand that even further, CEO Meng Li told Business Insider.
Moov's executive team is made up of researchers and designers from Apple and Microsoft. Li and cofounder Tony Yuan both worked at Microsoft Research, while Moov's software expert Nikola Hu previously worked as an engineer at Apple.
Moov wants to create more apps dedicated to certain activities, and is looking into working with third-party developers. One possibility, according to Li, is a martial arts game that would work with the Moov. Another potential use case could be a physical therapy app that would utilize the Moov's motion tracking capabilities to help patients recover.
Check out the video below to get a better idea of how the Moov works.