RookMotion Rebrands to ROOK as it Transitions to a B2B SaaS Focus & Announces $1.7M Pre-seed Fundraising Round

Real-time data means actionable insights, says ROOK, which has clients ranging from health and fitness brands to those in the insurance, tech, and digital health space

RookMotion is closing out March with two major announcements: a rebranding to ROOK, which reflects current innovations and ongoing growth, and a $1.7 million pre-seed funding round.

The brand refresh signals ROOK’s evolution from a fitness-focused, hardware-based company to a B2B SaaS company.

ROOK, founded in 2018 by biomedical engineers, has been eager to use data-driven solutions to create a healthier world – a mission that the company says hasn’t changed.

What began as a heart rate monitoring system has naturally evolved into API and health data analysis, and ROOK has unlocked solutions that extend beyond fitness into healthcare, insurance, wellness, and gaming.

With the advent of API, the company says it has shifted its focus from linking users to fitness centers to connecting businesses with the health data necessary for tailoring interactions, discovering fresh opportunities, and breaking new ground. 

The company points out that now that wearables are commonplace, the health data they collect is extremely valuable and has enormous unrealized potential. As a result, ROOK’s ability to provide a single integration for hundreds of wearables offers a solution by which businesses can collect and implement user data and insights.

“Many companies haven’t even started yet or struggled with the intent to use this data,” said Jonas Duecker, COO. “Leveraging this data can be a total game changer for many companies – enabling them to provide highly personalized, effective and meaningful user experiences. ROOK helps transform this data into actionable insights.” 

Having real-time data allows for better decision-making, Duecker added, as data can be transformed into actionable insights. 

“​​Imagine a world in which we are able to make better decisions in an instant, based on what our current state of mind and body tells us via biomarker insights,” he said.

Many of the integrations the company has built with its partners has been around gamifying the user experience, such as reward systems based on health habits. 

“ROOK enables the tracking and monitoring of healthy habits by allowing any fitness app to become compatible with a wide range of wearables,” Duecker said. “And even more important, ROOK helps to make sense of the data by applying a single format and scoring to the data that allows you to compare users on the same fair metrics – no matter the source of information.”

According to the B2B SaaS company, its clients range from fitness and wellness to those in the insurance, tech, and digital health space.

“Wearable data and integrations have become top-of-mind for many companies in fitness, wellness and health. We are especially excited about our collaboration with Advanta Health Solutions at the intersection of corporate wellness and insurance tech,” Duecker shared.

ROOK sees a future where biomarker data will be utilized to drive better user experiences that are highly personalized – and can help prevent disease.

“We will see biomarker data being used to improve the recommendations of your music playlist, to generate in-game effects in video games, to further decentralize patient monitoring experiences, to share in social circles how we are feeling, to control your smart living environment and in many other ways,” said Duecker. 

On a more macro level, Duecker says the data will be able to create insight and predictions, with the ability to prevent chronic diseases, inactivity, accidents and more. 

As part of the rebrand, ROOK also updated its website, which provides an in-depth look at the company’s offerings.

The recent $1.7 million in pre-seed funding was led by NuFund Venture Group and included participation from AlliedVC, CrossOceanFund, Harvard Business Fund, Hilltop Venture Partners, InstaVC, IrieVC, IQ Ventures, Liebenthal, Mana Ventures, MCMA VC, Stadia Ventures, Techstars, and The SageHouse.

The B2B SaaS company has also welcomed Pankaj Kedia, a prominent angel investor in artificial intelligence and deep technology and a former global head of wearables at Qualcomm, as a board member and investor. 

“We’re excited for this next stage of growth at our company,” said Marco Benitez, CEO & co-founder of ROOK.

“ROOK has always been about connecting people with what they need to achieve more–first through hardware and software, and now more than ever through our API. By centering our ability to provide more meaningful biomarker data and insights, we are able to focus on our power to deliver the tools for better understanding so that companies can turn problems into possibilities and tap into unseen opportunities. With this round of funding, we will drive even more people to discover, build, and achieve more with ROOK.”

In addition to the rebranding and the funding, ROOK has also been accepted into the EndeavorLAB and Stadia Ventures accelerator programs, which it will actively participate in over the next three to six months.