mHUB Member Spotlight: Ganance
Originally posted at mHUB Chicago's website.
In a recent Pew Research Center Survey, it was found that approximately one in five Americans utilizes a smartwatch or fitness tracker, underscoring the increasing importance in convenient access to health insights through wearable technology and mobile apps. However, for those who have ever cringed at a photo of themselves with an unflattering smartwatch on their wrist, or simply miss the aesthetic of a classic watch, the market's limited offerings of stylish smartwatches can be frustrating.
Alex Ocampo, a skilled software developer and AI expert, entered the scene in 2021 at mHUB with a vision—to turn his dream of an attachable, modular device that seamlessly captures health and movement data without compromising personal style—into a reality.
In this mHUB member spotlight, hear about Ocampo's journey from dreamer to Founder and CEO of wearable smartwatch startup, Ganance.
Where did the value proposition for Ganance come from?
OCAMPO: As a first generation Mexican American, graduating from one of the top universities in the nation was an incredibly proud moment for me and my family. As a graduation present, my older brother bought me a beautiful Citizen Eco-Drive for me to have a shiny new watch to match my shiny new job in New York City. I wore this watch every day.
The watch my brother gave me fueled my confidence to take on my corporate job at IBM and take on New York. This was around 2015 when Fitbits and Apple Watches were gaining traction and I slowly found myself wearing my watch less and less because I valued the data these trackers provided.
When my brother was diagnosed with a brain tumor a few years ago that he thankfully overcame, I remembered the watch that's so meaningful to me but had been collecting dust for years since I chose my data over my personal style. It was during that time that I asked myself, "Why can't I have both?" My watch and my data.
Describe your product and how it works.
OCAMPO: Our product is a modular wearable health tracker that attaches to your favorite watch or bracelet. Our discreet, modular wearable attaches to your favorite watch allowing you to track your data and receive the notifications you want from your phone.
Our device allows users to stay on top their steps and active minutes, sleep patterns, detect falls for our elderly population, and record their heart rate by using the latest in mobile camera optics. Our app delivers the health insights to help you make good choices, build good habits such as mindful breathing, journaling and mobility - all of this supporting you on your journey to become the best version of yourself.
What sets Ganance apart from other smart watches?
OCAMPO: What sets us apart is that we’re not a smart watch. Choosing to track your health, shouldn’t also be a fashion choice and today, whether we realize it or not, we’re making both decisions in one. Now, with Ganance, you can keep your style and your health data.
We’re not looking to build another rah-rah go-to-the-gym fitness device. We’re building the health wearable for the other 23 hours of the day, supporting our customers of corporate athletes by taking a holistic view of their health.
How has mHUB supported your founder journey?
OCAMPO: I arrived at mHUB a year and a half ago with an idea and a bare bone, not really functional, prototype.
My background is in artificial intelligence and software product development so learning the hardware space was a huge learning curve. Through mHUB's Landis Fellowship, I was able to work for multiple wearable tech companies both on the engineering side and the operations side to learn what it takes to build a hard tech company on a strong foundation.
With help from the mHUB community, I was able to build out my early team, go through several iterations of hardware development and get to the point where we can test our MVP with live users.
What’s next for Ganance?
OCAMPO: Lots of exciting momentum for Ganance right now. We’re currently taking pre-orders that we’re planning to ship in the fall. We’re growing our team and number of watch brand partnerships. And we’ll be going through Techstars Sports Accelerator Powered by Indy, where we’ll be fundraising and tapping deeper into the sports tech ecosystem.
