Beat the Street founders launch crowdfunding bid

A COMPANY that has helped get thousands of children walking is looking for a helping hand to get it on the right foot.

Intelligent Health, a health-tech start-up that run the Beat The Street challenge, has launched a £200,000 crowdfunding round on Seedrs in a bid to become the leader in tackling inactivity.

The World Health Organisation states that inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death globally, while in England 29% of adults are inactive. This level of inactivity has a direct link to obesity, diabetes and heart disease; all of which which are creating a huge and unsustainable financial drain on healthcare at local, national and international levels.

The Reading-based company said that its healthcare model focuses on dealing with the end result of bad health behaviours, by using technology and behaviour change theory to tackle the social causes of ill-health.

Led by Dr William Bird MBE who created ‘Health Walks’ and the ‘Green Gym’, Intelligent Health has been building active communities around the globe, not just in Wokingham borough.

Its Beat the Street programme has similarities to Pokémon Go where gamification is used across an entire area to get children, adults and the whole community moving together earning points and winning prizes. For the player it is fun, connects people and improves their health. Successful programmes have been delivered across the world, including London, Dublin, Belfast, New York and Vienna.

Dr Bird and his team are also developing a Social Prescription offer which is set to become standard in all GPs within the next two years. Social prescribing involves the GP issuing a prescription that empowers the community to improve health through exercise or healthy eating. The first social prescription programme from Intelligent Health will be delivered in Newham in 2017.

He said: “We know why moving matters and how active people connect to bring health, happiness and a sense of purpose. With 750,000 participants to date in our flagship Beat the Street programme, and clear evidence of sustained change to behaviour, we know we can make a positive and lasting impact on society.

“We want to empower people to make changes to their lives and now the public can invest as little as £10 in our mission. We have a clear vision to create active vibrant communities and we have set ambitious and motivating targets to help us achieve this.”

If successful, the crowdfunding will be used to grow the business including the development of a Beat the Street licence into Europe and the United States, as well as seeing the development of the Social Prescription programme.