Nottingham Tech Firm Helps Keep the Nation on Trax

Added by Love Business East Midlands | 25 February 2014

UPDATED: 25 February 2014

Amidst growing concerns over the obesity crisis in the UK, a Nottingham firm is putting health and wellbeing high on the national agenda with its innovative body composition technology.  It is helping users understand the body, track their effort and create 10 jobs in the process.

Boditrax Technologies Limited, based in Nottingham, develops software and hardware for the fitness, corporate wellness and health sectors.

The firm’s latest product, boditrax, collects body data including fat and muscle percentages using medically approved monitors which send a low electric signal through the body. The data is then transferred to boditrax.com. This enables users to easily interpret complex body composition and activity information and set goals and track changes through a simple online interface.

Thanks to a grant of £33,188 from the Nottingham Technology Grant Fund (N’Tech), Boditrax Technologies will develop an application for Apple and Android, enabling boditrax users to access their data on the go, and use the ‘bod’ tracking device, which captures and logs personal activity data.

The product is currently used by hospitals and universities, including University College London Hospital, Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham (where it is being tested), health and fitness clubs and hotels including The Chelsea Club, Jumeriah Carlton and a number of NHS Trusts across the country.

Founded in 2011, the company currently employs three members of staff and over the next three years, this will increase to 13 with the creation of 10 new full-time roles.

Oliver Wheatcroft, Co-Founder and Managing Director, commented:

“The market for health and fitness apps is expected to grow by more than 60 percent by 2017 and so it was a logical step for us to develop our own to complement the existing boditrax software. Activity tracking and ‘wearable tech’ is also a rapidly emerging area and with the money from N’Tech we will now be able to create exciting new products and take on new staff as a result.”

Geared towards the growing life science, digital content and clean technology sectors, the N’Tech fund is run by Nottingham City Council and was launched in April 2013.  The programme is focussed on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the greater Nottingham area, specifically to encourage manufacturing businesses to invest in 2014 and to support businesses to improve their production efficiency through energy savings and waste reduction. 

Councillor Nick McDonald, Portfolio Holder for Jobs and Skills at the City Council, said:

“Supporting businesses to develop their products and create jobs in our city is why we created N’Tech. To be clear, we want every business in Nottingham to think about applying for a grant. Boditrax have done just that, and have now secured significant financial support to expand their business. They have responded to a real challenge of our time with a creative, technical solution. We’re pleased that the investment from N’Tech will enable this company to move to greater heights of development.”

N’Tech is part of the £50million Nottingham prospectus, the city’s package to attract investment to boost Nottingham’s economy which forms a key part of the Nottingham Growth Plan.  N’Tech grants are funded solely through the Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF).  Nottingham City Council secured RGF from the Government for grants to help fast track development of businesses based in the city. The funding can provide grants of £20,000 to £1million per successful company to support growth and expansion.

The N’Tech fund has so far had 34 successful applications across the digital content, life sciences and clean technology sectors and awarded grants to the value £4 million with 737 jobs created and safeguarded.

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