Fitt Insider

April 21, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes.

Today's top stories:

• Chip Wilson launches venture to invest in early-stage performance brands amid ongoing Lululemon proxy fight, backing next wave of technical apparel
• Gatorade removes artificial colors from core flavors as brand expands beyond sports into everyday hydration and wellness category
• US executive order loosens psychedelic restrictions with $50M funding for psilocybin, MDMA, and ibogaine research to accelerate clinical pathways

Today's episode is brought to you by AIIR — a modern communications and experiential agency for health, wellness, fitness, and performance brands. From earned media to events and creator-led campaigns, AIIR helps companies sharpen their story, earn attention, and build trust that compounds. Visit https://aiir.agency to learn more.

More from Fitt:

Fitt Insider breaks down the convergence of fitness, wellness, and healthcare — and what it means for business, culture, and capital.

Subscribe to our newsletter → insider.fitt.co/subscribe

Work with our recruiting firm → https://talent.fitt.co/

Follow us on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/fittinsider/

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Reach out → [email protected]

Today, I'm joined by Justin Mares, co-founder and CEO of Truemed.

Truemed is scaling payment infrastructure to enable HSA/FSA spending on lifestyle-first health interventions like gym memberships, supplements, and sleep aids.

In this episode, we discuss building payment rails for preventative health.

We also cover:

• Prevention economics
• Securing funding from a16z
• Education, partnerships, and employer integrations

Subscribe to the podcast → insider.fitt.co/podcast

Subscribe to our newsletter → insider.fitt.co/subscribe

Follow us on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/fittinsider

Truemed's Website: www.truemed.com

Newsletter: justinmares.substack.com

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The Fitt Insider Podcast is brought to you by EGYM. Visit EGYM.com to learn more about its smart fitness ecosystem for fitness and health facilities.

Fitt Talent: https://talent.fitt.co/

Consulting: https://consulting.fitt.co/

Investments: https://capital.fitt.co/

Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:18) Kettle & Fire background

(02:19) Letters of medical necessity

(03:42) Payment integration

(05:33) Survey and approval process

(06:32) Loophole criticism

(08:45) Prevention economics

(10:37) Broken default assumptions

(11:34) Merchant excitement

(13:21) Mission-driven founders

(14:09) Scaling challenges

(15:34) Education strategy

(17:07) Partnership approach

(18:12) Employer integration

(19:34) Tracking outcomes

(21:26) Infrastructure layer

(22:12) Evidence-based future

(23:06) Merchant metrics

(24:26) Competitive differentiation

(27:56) Insurance expansion

(29:10) Data gap

(30:05) a16z funding

(31:41) Near-term experiments

(32:27) Conclusion

April 17, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes.

Today's top stories:

• Joe & the Juice secures minority investment from Emirates International valuing business at $1.8B, scaling to 1,000 locations by 2028 from 480 stores today
• Bryan Johnson launches telehealth platform with 100+ biomarker testing, AI-driven protocols, and prescription access competing with Function Health and Hims & Hers
• Sabi develops brain-sensing beanie reading internal speech using EEG sensors and AI, joining wave of non-invasive brain-computer interfaces

More from Fitt:

Fitt Insider breaks down the convergence of fitness, wellness, and healthcare — and what it means for business, culture, and capital.

Subscribe to our newsletter → insider.fitt.co/subscribe

Work with our recruiting firm → https://talent.fitt.co/

Follow us on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/fittinsider/

Follow us on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/fittinsider

Reach out → [email protected]

April 16, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes.

Today's top stories:

• Radiology study of 615 adults finds higher ultra-processed food consumption linked to more intramuscular fat regardless of calories or activity level
• Kampgrounds of America reports 77% of campers say nature supports wellbeing, with half booking trips specifically to improve mental health
• Novo Nordisk partners with OpenAI to apply AI across drug discovery and manufacturing, as Amazon launches Bio Discovery system designing drug candidates

More from Fitt:

Fitt Insider breaks down the convergence of fitness, wellness, and healthcare — and what it means for business, culture, and capital.

Subscribe to our newsletter → insider.fitt.co/subscribe

Work with our recruiting firm → https://talent.fitt.co/

Follow us on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/fittinsider/

Follow us on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/fittinsider

Reach out → [email protected]

April 15, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes.

Today's top stories:

• Protocole launches with $6M funding to build clinical-grade peptide platform connecting users to licensed clinicians and regulated pharmacies amid FDA scrutiny
• Posh raises $37M to scale real-world experiences as connection economy shifts from screens to in-person events, backed by Ari Emanuel and Mark Cuban
• Texas AG investigates Lululemon over potential health risks tied to "forever chemicals" as 70%+ of US adults worry about chemical exposure in clothing

More from Fitt:

Fitt Insider breaks down the convergence of fitness, wellness, and healthcare — and what it means for business, culture, and capital.

Subscribe to our newsletter → insider.fitt.co/subscribe

Work with our recruiting firm → https://talent.fitt.co/

Follow us on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/fittinsider/

Follow us on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/fittinsider

Reach out → [email protected]

April 14, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes.

Today's top stories:

• Ultralight raises $9.3M to build AI-native operating system for functional and longevity practices, replacing fragmented tools with single clinical infrastructure
• MyFitnessPal explores sale at $1B+ valuation with Francisco Partners working with JPMorgan after acquiring platform for $375M in 2020
• Gymshark opens first gym, Lifting Club in Miami's Wynwood district this summer, bringing training, content, and community into physical space

More from Fitt:

Fitt Insider breaks down the convergence of fitness, wellness, and healthcare — and what it means for business, culture, and capital.

Subscribe to our newsletter → insider.fitt.co/subscribe

Work with our recruiting firm → https://talent.fitt.co/

Follow us on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/fittinsider/

Follow us on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/fittinsider

Reach out → [email protected]

Today, I'm joined by Anushka Salinas, CEO of Nanit.

A parenting tech company with 1.3M users, Nanit evolved from a smart baby monitor to a full ecosystem for insights on kids' sleep, health, safety, and developmental milestones.

In this episode, we discuss bringing data to early childhood's unmeasured years.

We also cover:

• Parental anxiety
• Home health sensing
• Nanit user feedback and outcomes

Subscribe to the podcast → insider.fitt.co/podcast

Subscribe to our newsletter → insider.fitt.co/subscribe

Follow us on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/fittinsider

Nanit's Website: www.nanit.com

Careers at Nanit: https://www.nanit.com/pages/careers

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/get_nanit/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@getnanit

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The Fitt Insider Podcast is brought to you by EGYM. Visit EGYM.com to learn more about its smart fitness ecosystem for fitness and health facilities.

Fitt Talent: https://talent.fitt.co/

Consulting: https://consulting.fitt.co/

Investments: https://capital.fitt.co/

Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:16) Smart baby monitors

(02:34) The health tracking boom

(04:14) Beyond sleep

(06:28) Early childhood intelligence

(07:35) 97% trust and recommendation rate

(08:10) Feeding and diaper logging

(09:13) Turning data into actionable insights

(10:27) Sleep score simplification

(11:25) Parent anxiety and confidence

(13:10) Default parent dynamic

(14:35) Improving communication

(16:23) Science-backed vs. opinion-driven insights

(17:24) 50+ published research studies

(18:27) Healthcare blurring lines with LLMs

(19:38) Cough detection sharing

(21:19) Home health sensing

(24:21) AI accelerating roadmap

(25:18) Measuring milestone development

(26:08) AI in user experience and efficiency

(27:21) Where to learn more

(27:40) Conclusion

April 10, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes.

Today's top stories:

• Function acquires Getlabs to bring blood draws in-home, expanding beyond Quest partnership after acquiring Ezra to build integrated diagnostics stack
• US gym membership hits record 81M in 2025 with 26.1% of Americans belonging to facilities, as no-show rates drop from 10% to 4.6%
• Unilever acquires Grüns for $1.2B after brand scales to $300M revenue in four years shipping 10M daily greens gummies daily across 7K retail locations

Today's episode is brought to you by AIIR — a modern communications and experiential agency for health, wellness, fitness, and performance brands. From earned media to events and creator-led campaigns, AIIR helps companies sharpen their story, earn attention, and build trust that compounds. Visit https://aiir.agency to learn more.

More from Fitt:

Fitt Insider breaks down the convergence of fitness, wellness, and healthcare — and what it means for business, culture, and capital.

Subscribe to our newsletter → insider.fitt.co/subscribe

Work with our recruiting firm → https://talent.fitt.co/

Follow us on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/fittinsider/

Follow us on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/fittinsider

Reach out → [email protected]

April 9, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes.

Today's top stories:

• Rock Health reports Q1 digital health funding hits $4B across 110 deals with average deal size nearing $37M, as 60% of capital flows to dozen scaled platforms

• Chomps approaches $900M revenue selling 2M sticks daily with 10% market share, driven by female consumers and GLP-1 adoption fueling protein demand

• Study of 2,000 participants finds regular sauna use improves physical and mental health, with gains tied to social connection driving communal format expansion

Today's episode is brought to you by AIIR — a modern communications and experiential agency for health, wellness, fitness, and performance brands. From earned media to events and creator-led campaigns, AIIR helps companies sharpen their story, earn attention, and build trust that compounds. Visit https://aiir.agency to learn more.

More from Fitt:

Fitt Insider breaks down the convergence of fitness, wellness, and healthcare — and what it means for business, culture, and capital.

Subscribe to our newsletter → insider.fitt.co/subscribe

Work with our recruiting firm → https://talent.fitt.co/

Follow us on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/fittinsider/

Follow us on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/fittinsider

Reach out → [email protected]

April 8, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes.

Today's top stories:

• Xponential Fitness explores sale following three board resignations and $45.6M Q4 net loss, with shares trading below $7 down from $33 peak in 2023

• NielsenIQ/Spate reports ready-to-drink NA beverages surpass $1B annually while THC beverages hit $215M as controlled indulgence goes mainstream

• NYT profiles telehealth company MEDVi as "billion-dollar AI company" amid scrutiny over AI-generated testimonials, fake doctors, and unapproved GLP-1 marketing

Today's episode is brought to you by AIIR — a modern communications and experiential agency for health, wellness, fitness, and performance brands. From earned media to events and creator-led campaigns, AIIR helps companies sharpen their story, earn attention, and build trust that compounds. Visit https://aiir.agency to learn more.

More from Fitt:

Fitt Insider breaks down the convergence of fitness, wellness, and healthcare — and what it means for business, culture, and capital.

Subscribe to our newsletter → insider.fitt.co/subscribe

Work with our recruiting firm → https://talent.fitt.co/

Follow us on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/fittinsider/

Follow us on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/fittinsider

Reach out → [email protected]