Like America's waistlines, the attention devoted to our obesity epidemic is growing by the day. And people are realizing that surgery and gimmick diets are not the answer. John Montague and Dr. James Levine, founders of Muve, are working to find an answer.
Based on a groundbreaking study on obesity from the Mayo Clinic, the two plan on using their company to commercialize products and services with the best chance to cure the obesity epidemic.
Those products include a mobile, wearable device used to track body movement and convert the data to calories and energy burned; a software application that synchronizes body-movement data with a computer; and an online network focused on wellness and weight loss.
The seed for Muve was planted in 1995, after the Mayo Clinic—prompted by a phone call from President Clinton—embarked on a 10-year study to determine the causes and identify cures for the worldwide obesity epidemic. Muve was founded early in 2007 to commercialize the breakthrough programs, technology, and tools that resulted from this study.
Montague and Levine found that there was a wealth of data at Mayo regarding obesity, but, as Montague points out, "they didn't have a vision or plan to commercialize it. For me, it was like assembling all of the pieces and determining the best way to construct a puzzle."
Muve's target customers are overweight adults and children who are "desk-sentenced"-people who are sitting for a majority of the day.
Muve's goal is to produce a small digital device called Gruve that records a person's every movement and calculates how many calories are burned. Treadmill desks, a fitness book, clothing, branded bottled water, nutritional supplements, and health consulting also are part of the company's planned product line.
"Our products and services will help educate, motivate, and support their journey of weight loss and management," says Montague.
Muve plans to open a Minneapolis office in October 2007 and then commence efforts to raise capital. The company's business plan calls for raising $500,000 to launch development of hardware and software.
In early 2008, the team hopes to raise an additional $2 million to complete development and testing.
Muve, says Montague, is the first scientifically researched and validated solution to enable sustainable and healthy weight loss.
The company's core offering is an integrated solution that includes an online weight-loss program and a mobile device to support it. The company is aiming for profitability by 2011.
Montague left his former company to found Muve, partly because he wanted to be part of an enterprise that would bring out the passion he felt he owed to his work.
"I was losing my sense of passion and purpose," he says. "With this new venture, my sense of purpose and passion is so intense that I have a new problem—I can't sleep."
