An Edmonton-made app that rewards users for being physically active is now available on the App Store.
It’s a huge achievement for the Run For Stuff team, which is made up of six local university students who work out of a space at Startup Edmonton.
“It was unreal,” co-founder Micheal Bouchard said. “I’m not going to lie, I cried… I was so pumped.
“We finally got this done. It hit us all… We have this product that we’ve been working on for almost a year-and-a-half and it’s finally launched and people are responding to it in a really positive way.”
Watch below: An Edmonton-made app that rewards you for being physically active is marking a major milestone. As Emily Mertz reports, “Run for Stuff” is now available on the Apple app store.
READ MORE: Edmonton-made app rewards you for being physically active
Run For Stuff uses Apple’s Health Kit app to track data and is compatible with Garmin, Apple Watch, and other fitness wearables that sync with Apple Health.
App users earn points throughout the day for every kilometre they walk or run. Then, they can use those points to get discounts and deals on fitness apparel and other products from nine partner companies.
“These companies see it as a really awesome socially responsible platform that encourages people to be physically active and it’s just a fun way to advertise,” Bouchard said.
Most of the partner companies (Lorna Jane, Michi, Team Ltd., TLF Apparel, Karma Athletics, Lukka Lux) sell fashionable active wear for men and women.
“Being on Apple means we can potentially reach all over the world,” Bouchard said. “One of the companies that we have… is Lorna Jane from Australia. We’re not limited by borders. Since we’re on the App Store, you can download the app wherever you are in the world and just earn points just by walking.”
The app is free and Bouchard hopes interest in Run For Stuff continues to ramp up.
“I think Edmonton is going to love this,” he said. “We have awesome potential to reach North America and even the world and make a true different in encouraging people to be physically active and just motivate people.”