Today we announced that our seed round grew to $3.5 million. The press release has the numbers. This is the part a press release cannot hold: why we are spending the money the way we are.
Data was never the hard part
A wearable can already tell you how you slept, how hard you trained and how fast your heart came down afterwards. Most people who care about their health have more data than they use. What they lack is someone who reads it with them and a reason to show up the next day.
That someone is usually local. It is the Pilates instructor who notices you skipped two weeks. It is the coach who moves your session when your recovery is low. It is the friend who books the padel court and texts you the time. People change their habits through people, and those people work in a neighborhood.
So we built Betterness around that. The app brings your workouts, sleep, nutrition and lab results into one place. Bett-i, the AI in Betterness, reads that data against your goals. And Betterness One gives the studios, coaches and wellness brands you already trust their own Space inside the same app, so they can see what you choose to share with them and stay in touch after the class ends.
Why a neighborhood, not a city
A city is too big to feel. A neighborhood is the distance you will actually walk, drive or scooter on a Tuesday morning. When the businesses in one neighborhood share a single Space, a member who meets one of them can find the rest. A studio that brings in a new client helps the smoothie shop next door, and the other way around.
That is what we mean by a neighborhood wellness network: the people who live and work there, the local businesses and professionals they trust, and the health services they can reach through those businesses, connected in one app.
Why Miami Worldcenter first
Miami already lives outdoors and already treats wellness as part of the day. Miami Worldcenter puts residents, offices, shops, restaurants and a weekly Night Market within a few blocks of each other. It is a neighborhood that was designed to be walked, which makes it the right place to test whether a shared Space changes how people move between businesses.
We have spent more than a year and a half with Miami businesses learning how they work and what their members ask for. The Worldcenter Space is the first time we are putting all of that in one place. This Sunday, November 15, we will be at the Miami Worldcenter Wellness Series to show it in person.
What the new money is for
Three things.
First, more neighborhoods. Miami Beach is next. Each new network starts with the businesses that already have a following there.
Second, the businesses. Betterness One is free to start: a studio or coach can invite members and offer perks with Grow. When they want bookings, memberships and check-in, they add Host. We want an independent studio to have the same connected experience as a national chain, without building software.
Third, health services. Members can already order lab tests through Betterness. Next come telemedicine with licensed clinicians, prescriptions filled by licensed pharmacies, and supplements, offered through the local businesses members already trust. Betterness provides wellness information, not medical advice, and every clinical service will come from licensed partners.
What we want to learn
We will measure whether people who meet a business through the neighborhood Space come back to it, and whether they try a second business nearby. If they do, we will know the network works, and we will build the next one faster.
If you are in Miami, download Betterness, join the Miami Worldcenter Space and come say hello on Sunday. If you run a studio, a gym, a clinic or a wellness brand anywhere, Betterness One is open today.
Better Health. Better Life. Together.
— Demian Bellumio, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Betterness
