Health IT

Can Arianna Huffington do for consumer wellness what she did for online news?

Arianna Huffington's Thrive Global, which is now open for business, intends to transform consumer wellness on an international scale.

thrive-global-screengrab

So many companies have become healthcare players, from the likes of Apple and Google to Nokia and Samsung so why not Arianna Huffington, the cofounder of and, until August, the editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post? Her new business, Thrive Global, is taking on consumer wellness and in particular the never-ending challenge of combating stress plus enhancing well-being and performance, according to a news release.

To support the company’s goals, Thrive Global includes three elements: corporate training and workshops to bring health strategies and tools to organizations; a media platform; and an online store that curates technologies that support the company’s mission. The idea is that these three parts support consumer wellness and help individuals change their habits to make healthier choices.

Thrive Global has more than 18 health tech partners which will sell products through its online store but also participate in various consumer wellness programs offered by Thrive Global. Among them are digital health companies such as Kurbo, which developed a personal health coaching platform to promote healthy eating choices for individuals and families, telemedicine business Doctor on Demand, Fitbit, breath analysis developer Breathometer, wearable pain relief device Quell developed by NeuroMetrix, genetic testing business Color Genomics, and DeepStream VR — a company that sees a way to apply virtual reality games to relieving pain. The company is also working with several companies to improve sleep.

In addition to Thrive Global’s online store, many of the products will be offered through the company’s Pop-Up Store in New York City, which will be open from tomorrow through January 15, 2017. Doctor On Demand will have a high profile in that space. Physicians from the telemedicine business will be on hand to demo the service and provide blood pressure screenings and stress reduction workshops, according to a news release from Doctor on Demand. Thrive Global’s pop-up store will give something to Doctor on Demand that telemedicine companies often lack: a personal touch.

Like The Huffington Post, Thrive Global is using partnerships to take its business international, this time from the beginning. It has media partners in India through The Times Group, in Italy with Gruppo Espresso and Central and Eastern Europe through Antenna Group. Among its many corporate partnerships, Thrive has teamed up with Discovery in South Africa. Collectively these partnerships could open up new markets to Thrive Global’s health tech partners.

 

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