FitBit CEO Talks Up “Life-Saving” Potential Of Brand

FitBit cofounder James Park has talked up the company’s plans to invest into healthcare via a partnership with California-based medical technology company Medtronic.

According to him, “wearing a Fitbit should be able to save your life.”

Speaking at a San Francisco event yesterday, Park said he sees the data tracking that the wearable provides when it comes to daily activity, exercise, and glucose level as the first step towards Fitbit being a more developed and widely recognized medical aid.

He says the company plans to focus more on sensors and AI in the near future, in the hopes of fine-tuning the technology and improving the reliability of health monitoring.

It’s unknown how the company’s recent acquistion of smartwatch maker Pebble fits into that plan.

“When I look at where we are today, there is still so much work left for us to do in order to affect health outcomes,” Park said.

Additional deals and partnerships with other healthcare companies are also planned, with the end goal being to broaden the company’s market scope beyond fitness fanatics and reducing its dependency on that particular customer-base.