23 May 2011 07:00
Fitbug Holdings Plc / Epic: FITB.L / Index: AIM / Sector: Leisure
23 May 2011
Fitbug Holdings Plc ('Fitbug' or 'the Company')
Agreement with South Africa's Largest Private Medical Insurer
Fitbug Holdings Plc, the AIM traded provider of online personal health and well-being services, has signed a partnership agreement ('the Agreement') with Discovery Health's ('Discovery') rewards subsidiary Vitality Healthstyle Pty Limited ('Vitality'). Discovery Health is South Africa's largest private medical insurer, and this relationship will see Fitbug's proprietary health and well-being technology marketed to members of Discovery's Vitality rewards programme.
Discovery is the parent company of PruHealth in the UK and The Vitality Group (TVG) in the USA, both of whom Fitbug has business relationships with, having worked with them for over five years and 18 months respectively. Discovery pioneered the Vitality rewards programme which has over 1.8 million reward point collectors in South Africa. Under the terms of the Agreement, Fitbug will be introduced as a Vitality partner whereby members can earn Vitality points by hitting daily activity targets and redeem them in the 'Vitality Mall'.
Fitbug Chief Executive Paul Landau said, "I am excited to be extending our relationship with Discovery and look forward to offering our services to its home market. We are confident that Fitbug will prove as popular in South Africa as it has in the UK and USA. With a Vitality rewards collector base of 1.8 million members, coupled with a high awareness within the scheme of how to earn points by walking, we are optimistic that Fitbug will prove to be a strong partner to Vitality."
Head of Vitality Wellness at Discovery, Dr. Craig Nossel, said, "Having successfully worked with Fitbug as part of PruHealth and TVG's Vitality programme, we look forward to strengthening this relationship as we introduce Fitbug to the South African market. Vitality has run a popular pedometer programme for some years, however the technology is now becoming obsolete and Fitbug's service, which includes download capabilities, will allow us to reinvigorate the programme."
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For further information visit www.fitbugholdings.com or (http://www.discovery.co.za) or contact:
Andrew Brummer | Fitbug Holdings Plc | 020 7449 1000 |
Mark Percy | Seymour Pierce | 020 7107 8000 |
Catherine Leftley | Seymour Pierce | 020 7107 8000 |
Katie Ratner | Seymour Pierce | 020 7107 8000 |
John Levinson | Rivington Street Corporate Finance Limited | 020 7562 3357 |
Susie Geliher | St Brides Media & Finance Ltd | 020 7236 1177 |
Elisabeth Cowell | St Brides Media & Finance Ltd | 020 7236 1177 |
Notes
Fitbug is a leading provider of online health and well-being services to help individuals to improve their lifestyles by making realistic changes to their daily routine. It combines activity tracking devices, which download to fitbug.com to provide an understanding of each user's daily activity achievements, with web technology which provides users with personalised weekly activity and nutrition targets, feedback, advice and encouragement.
Key market sectors include health insurance and rewards providers, workplace health programmes, Primary Care Trusts, fitness operators and consumers. Increasingly, Fitbug's platform acts as the driving force behind third party services such as white label sites, activity driven games and challenge microsites and rewards programmes.
The Company's main focus is now on building strategic partnerships with organisations which can integrate Fitbug into their own service/product offerings or resell to their customer base.