The FitTech Club Podcast

"Bringing hospitals home"- Matthieu Menanteau, Product Director Withings

• FitTech Club • Season 2 • Episode 11

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🔥 What's in this episode? Over half of Withings' blood pressure monitor users have hypertension with medication - this is how the French health tech company is transforming chronic condition management through seamless home monitoring. In this episode, Matthieu Menanteau, Product Director at Withings, reveals how they're bringing hospital-grade biomarkers into consumers' daily lives. Discover how they're achieving continuous health insights through an integrated ecosystem of smart scales, sleep analyzers, and AI-powered health assistants.

🎤 About our guest: Matthieu Menanteau is the Product Director at Withings, a French health tech company founded in 2008 with a global ecosystem of connected health devices. He leads development of breakthrough products including the U-scan urine analysis device and advancing existing product lines like smart scales and hybrid watches. Under his leadership, Withings has successfully integrated medical-grade features into consumer devices, creating seamless health monitoring solutions used by millions worldwide.

🎯 What you'll learn 
[02:08] How to bring medical - grade biomarkers from hospital settings into daily home monitoring for prevention and long-term health insights 
[03:15] The OMNIA concept strategy - using conceptual products to demonstrate ecosystem capabilities and trigger B2B partnership discussions [11:31] Target audience evolution from health - conscious consumers to chronic condition management, with over 50% of blood pressure users having hypertension 
[15:01] Why "grassroot change" through consumer empowerment creates bigger healthcare impact than top-down system approaches 
[20:30] Integration strategy differences - maintaining hundreds of open API connections while being selective about direct data partnerships

📌 Links & resources

Withings Official Website

🎁 Special for our listeners: Get 20% off all Withings products (except new releases) with the code WITH-FITTECH-20 at checkout on their website.

Connect with Matthieu Menanteau on LinkedIn

🎧 Enjoyed this episode?

Speaker 1:

Hi, I'm Natalia Karbasova. I'm the founder and CEO of the FitTech Club, a global business club for founders and executives in fitness and consumer health tech. In this episode, we explore how connected health ecosystems are transforming the way we manage chronic diseases. Mathieu Menanteau, product director at Withings, shares how they're reaching over 50% engagement among users with chronic conditions. That means 24-hour access to care teams and hospital-level measurements right from your bathroom scale. So, without further ado, let's dive in.

Speaker 2:

Right everyone. So welcome to the FitTech podcast. Today I'm sitting together with Mathieu Mananteau, product director at Withings, one of the companies I've been following very closely in the last years. Absolutely love the story. A French company founded in 2008, sold to Nokia, bought back by the founder, developed into an absolute healthcare ecosystem company and consumer health company. So today I would like to know and to learn, together with you, how the ecosystems at Withings work, how hardware and software and data all play together and where we'll see the future of the connected health ecosystems probably, or hopefully, Right. So, mathieu, welcome to the conversation.

Speaker 3:

Thank you. Thank you for having me, Natalia. I'm very excited to share the winning story and some insights today with your user base.

Speaker 2:

Amazing. Let's jump right into it, mathieu. As a product director, you're responsible for development of new products, including the U-Scan, the urine analysis device for home health. You are also advancing some existing product lines like smart scales and hybrid watches, also taking care of the integration of medical grade features into consumer devices. So quite lots of things. What's one main part of your job that you're most excited about right now?

Speaker 3:

So I would say for sure, discussing with the healthcare professional experts to try to bring to consumer medical grade biomarkers. That will actually mean a lot when they're monitored and tracked on a regular basis at home, meaning basically in your daily life, with a scale or a watch connected, one, of course, being able to have those impactful and really deep measurements that you should only be able to get in hospital environment and that actually makes a lot of sense for a professional healthcare professional to have on a long trend and actually to to get insight and basically to prevent and to to help you live a better life and a longer one in in conditions. So that's actually one of the most exciting parts is to talk to those experts, community and to gather feedbacks and build those new capabilities into devices.

Speaker 2:

We both agree, Mathieu, that the future of healthcare is, first of all, the combination between healthy lifestyle, fitness and health, and second, through prevention and through technology, between healthy lifestyle, fitness and health. And second, through prevention and through technology. You've just presented a very new, interesting product, which you also call a conceptual health product. That's called Omnia at CS in Vegas in 2025, in January right, actually this month yet and conceptual product actually means you probably will not launch it, right? So why present?

Speaker 3:

so this omnia concept is really the vision and the mission of we things in a nutshell and in something that people can actually reflect to. Of course, it a mirror, but that's not the point. It's three things that we things have been working on and shaping the innovation of health recently, for the past 15 years. First, it's a home health hub. Basically, it gathers all your info, data from all data source, third-party integration and the full Wibix ecosystem in one single point, basically the Weavings app, but with this concept it's the mirror. Second, it's an assistant to decode your body Basically.

Speaker 3:

If you've been able to test this functional concept, product Omnia, you step on it, you get an assessment through measurements similar as a connected body scale, and at the very end, you get a summary insights of everything that the product measured.

Speaker 3:

Basically, it's the AI that is coming into the Weaving's ecosystem and the Weaving's app. And third, it's a bridge to the healthcare world. Basically, at the end of the experience on the mirror, you also get an invitation to talk to a care team. What we've been doing recently is we've built actually a partnership with care teams in Germany, in France, in the US, to actually be able to talk or at least to get your data reviewed in less than 24 hours, just a click away in the Wavings app again. So basically, this concept is the reality that actually people don't know about necessarily, that you can gather everything in a single place. That you can gather everything in a single place, that you can have an assistant that helps you understand what is happening in your data, basically in your body, and, third, that you can also get easy access to healthcare professional.

Speaker 2:

In that regard, Matteo, you have quite some hardware products. I mean you started with scale back. Then you have blood pressure monitors, you have health scans, bmo for temperature, cardiovascular respiratory system assessment. You have, as mentioned, urine analysis devices and also sleep analyzers. So how does Omnia, the concept, reflect your vision of the ecosystem?

Speaker 3:

the concept reflect your vision of the ecosystem. Omnia is expressing the fact that eventually, in a not so far away future, you will be able to get a deep screening in a single place. As of today, you need a couple of devices at different time and moment of your day, Basically on your wrist. You could have a watch In your bathroom, you could have a scale Underneath your mattress, you could have the sleep mat In the toilet, you could have the U-scan On the wrist, you could have a watch In your bathroom, you could have a scale Underneath your mattress, you could have the sleep mat In the toilet, you could have the U-scan On the go, you could have the demo.

Speaker 3:

So basically, the Weaving's ecosystem allows you to actually get continuous measurement in a seamless way, every time of the day, every time of the night. Next, I think in the future, we'll be able to gather in a most seamless way all this data and basically Omnia is this expression, this reflection of soon we'll be able to do that and actually just a step away, you'll be able to get all this analysis and actually guidance at a single spot. It seems a lot sci-fi, but actually it's not that far away and it's also an interesting way to trigger the discussion we're having, Natalia, today.

Speaker 3:

It's really where the health industry is going, what we'll be able to do in the future and also if industries such as we mentioned before preparing this podcast gyms, for instance they're interested in such form factors. But actually it's super interesting for us to have this discussion because if they say, okay, we need in our facilities some kind of equipment similar to Omnia, we can have this discussion of okay, we have a similar product that could work in your environment. We can develop or custom develop such things with you and actually it makes a lot of sense and it keeps our development team, engineering team, push forward the limit of what we should do for our customers.

Speaker 2:

You sure triggered quite some discussions with launching and I really was excited to follow all the buzz. But what's the real plan with Omnia?

Speaker 3:

So the real plan is Omnia basically today illustrates what the Withings app is capable of Basically. Withings app today it's this hub of data. We already have the Apple Health integration, the Google Health Connect third party and partners, so you could have all your health data in the Withings app if you wish. Two, the AI part In a quarter we'll be introducing a powerful health assistant within the Withings app. So basically, what you've seen on Omnia Mirror that was functional at CES, but only for the lucky few that were able to attend the show you'll be able to get this intelligence, this correlation, this help to decode your body through a custom AI we've been training inside the Withings app.

Speaker 3:

And number three, this bridge with the healthcare world we're creating since January in the US, france, germany. In 24 hours in the Weaving Zap you can have your data reviewed by a care team, a partner care team. So we are creating already this bridge with the healthcare world and that's why we want to show, just within an experience at CES, that everything can come together. It's really easier to talk about what we're doing through a product because we are originally an hardware company and people understand what they can touch, whereas a software and app they can't touch it, so it's really easier to explain the message, the mission and the vision and actually what we're doing.

Speaker 3:

So Omnia today is really something that you'll be able to experience in the app since January, basically.

Speaker 2:

Will it ever be sold Like? Is it a real product?

Speaker 3:

I think the Omnia software intelligence, I mean what powers the machine? This will see the day of flight eventually. I think the form factor will evolve. For sure it will have a different shape I mean even I don't know but for sure it will see the day of flight. And the software? Only it's already in the app and it will just get better and better over the next month.

Speaker 2:

Right. So let's dive into your ecosystem a bit deeper. You have all the hardware devices that we've just described. You have the data integrations, you have the AI that is coming to the app. So, basically, you're trying to create, also through design, that you're very, very focused on. You're trying to create the seamless experience where the user doesn't have a feeling they are somewhere you know they're not being taken by hand. Let's look at this from the business perspective, right? So what cases for you? For withings have proven to be a most interesting in terms of roi, for yourself and also for your partners.

Speaker 3:

so in terms of audience, if we start at the at the beginning, we're really focused on earth conscious people as well as tech and data lovers. Along the way we got a strong interest with the whole family because actually our product has multi-user capabilities, such as the scale or the BMO, and eventually we got where we wanted, meaning chronic conditions. People living with chronic conditions are actually discovering they're living with a chronic condition, meaning either they get diagnosed or we help the diagnosis for a nurse care professional or actually or end they can manage their condition with our product. One simple example is hypertension. We're seeing that more than half of our users today that use a blood pressure-connected monitor they have hypertension with medication. So that's actually exactly the strength and our company's mission is really to help people live better and actually manage their condition if they have one. So that's really we are targeting and that's the bridge also to our B2B business, which is actually Weaving Health Solution. The B2B side is a program enabler, meaning we're able to help companies that actually accompany such audiences people living with chronic condition along their journey towards their journey.

Speaker 3:

For instance, we're recently partnering with company that provide jlp1 medicine to patients, to customers, and actually it's super important for them to monitor their progress and the impact of such medication on their body and our body's scale are actually the best tool to monitor, in a seamless manner, what affects your body composition, your vascular age, your arterial stiffness, the nerve health I mean all those that are impacted positively, of course. I mean that's the goal of this new medicine. Same thing for sleep apnea. If you're suffering from sleep apnea, there is a fair chance that you're actually wearing either a CPAP or some meds. We have a sleep mat that actually monitors sleep apnea index, so you can see the effectiveness and the benefit of actually wearing this mask or taking those pills, which can be a pain, but actually you have the reward and you see the positive effect with the data coming from the product.

Speaker 3:

So basically you're in a virtuous circle where actually you still want to continue your effort because it helps you in a positive way. So that's a super positive impact we're having.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, mathieu, I'm really hearing that what you are very strong at is visualizing the hidden data and the progress for the user. If you could pick just one case or for one target audience, because you have both B2B and B2C where do you feel can Withings make most impact with its ecosystem?

Speaker 3:

I personally believe that it's the responsibility of everyone to take care of their health, to understand their body. So I would say I think the revolution and where we'll have the bigger impact would be on the consumer side, where actually people will monitor themselves, where actually people will monitor themselves, understand better what is happening and be more informed when they'll have a discussion with a healthcare professional. Because that's not going to change actually and we don't really want to change that. We actually want to encourage more regular discussions with your healthcare professional, but also a more informed discussion with longitudinal data that actually won't have bias of a single yearly checkup. That actually will not mean a lot for an healthcare profession because it's only one point on like a yearly map. That way, with daily product that you use on a daily basis, basically you have continuous data and it will reflect your own trend and actually that's where we'll be, we'll have the more impact.

Speaker 2:

Here we go again, with changing consumer habits first, because then that could also potentially change the system, grassroot change.

Speaker 3:

I think so. I mean, that's what I believe.

Speaker 2:

Okay, okay, let's think about, let's speak about, the integrations part you have. Like, obviously, all of your products are integrated with each other. You also have recently launched the integration with Whoop, where you can also have direct data monitoring via the Whoop app and, of course, some nice sales distribution upside. Hopefully as well, you're also integrating with both MyFitnessPal, with Apple HealthKit. What other integrations do you also have that you probably have launched recently or are going to launch soon?

Speaker 3:

We're also integrated with Strava on the workout angle and we're working with a big German company on the nutrition side. I can't name them as we speak, but we'll have something loud to say in the coming month. So that's uh one thing, but really the uh apple health and the google health connect integration. This is super useful on both sides actually, because this enables people to actually choose the environment, the app basically in which they want to monitor the environment, the app basically in which they want to monitor their everything, and that's where, actually, wethings is positioning their value proposition. And that's why we think we're one of the best, maybe the best company to actually gather all data together, because we have full transparency on how we actually get this data. We share everything we capture. So, actually, if you want to see your data elsewhere, you can, but you can also retrieve everything and get it in the Weavings app. That's what I recommend, obviously, and that's, I think, the integration that matters the most.

Speaker 3:

Of course, we have direct partnership, where we think our ecosystem can add values to an existing solution that a user is already having. You name the Whoop, for instance. They have a super powerful coaching and performance experience. It's really a performance coach the Whoop band. You're having one. Yeah, they have an amazing team uh, great, great, great people and actually um it for them it was super important that their community uh could track in the whoop environment weight and uh composition, so fat, muscle ratio, and actually we're the world renowned brand and gold standard on the body composition and scale and smart scale product. So it made a lot of sense for our two companies to connect and to actually complete their solution and their consumer needs.

Speaker 2:

But of course you're not the only one company that integrates with Woop, because obviously quite some integrations are possible just with Apple, Healthcare, HealthKit. How many integrations with third parties do you have in general?

Speaker 3:

I mean we have an open API so basically anyone could integrate with us. In that regard, we have, I mean, I think, more than 100, it's in hundreds the number of integration we're having, but those are, let's say, open integration and the one we control where we have dual reciprocity in terms of data. This no more than 10, I would say we really we are picky on the partners we want to actually focus on.

Speaker 2:

Can you compare yourself to Garmin in some way, Because their platform also works with integrations and APIs and SDKs and quite an open data platform as well. What do you so? What do you do differently to Garmin?

Speaker 3:

Technically speaking I haven't deep dived on their full offering of API and SDK and stuff like this. I think it's fairly comparable. I mean, the main difference is that Garmin objective is really focused on performance athletes either you are a runner, a cyclist, I mean and on our hand, it's really focused on prevention and your health, understanding your body, which is actually uh, we're not focusing on um, you know, garmin performance is really like a couple of hours in the week where you actually focus on a specific workout. The daily understanding of your body is really 24-7. So that's where we differentiate ourselves. We want to be every hour of the way, every time with you in a seamless and a passive way. Hour of the way every time with you in a seamless and a passive way where garmin they want to be like super intense on the data, on like a short period of time where you actually work out by the way, I'm not that sure about this, to be honest, because their biggest market is healthcare and insurances, um, but, but let's, let's look into different market segments.

Speaker 2:

So I would love to know your perspective about fitness and well-being businesses. But let's look into different market segments. So I would love to know your perspective about fitness and well-being businesses. I know that your company is very focused on B2B and health space and also consumer health. We also agreed that all the market segments, from fitness to wellness to healthcare, should actually work together, right? So what's your perspective on fitness and wellbeing segments? How do you see connected hardware providers, as yourselves, and connected data providers, as yourselves, working in the traditional fitness business? I think?

Speaker 3:

I mean we need always to come to remind ourselves what the consumer wants, what's his needs, her needs. So basically, they want a seamless and a single solution where you can find everything. They don't want five apps and tons of different environments. So I would say a 360 solution with guidance, because you always discover something new or that would actually trigger some question about yourself in the data. But you mentioned our, our place in the gym and the fitness industry. I would say this industry it's an opportunity to perform checkup, to follow your trains when actually you're performing a known exercise, and also a place to educate and connect. So it's really where I see the basis of really bringing and merging those two universes together.

Speaker 2:

Any pilots?

Speaker 3:

Any pilots that you're running, possibly, yeah we're discussing, we're having a proof of concept with a French player. Actually we really want to see and to test whether this audience, that actually we've identified in our user base as highly active and motivated athletes, see an interest in having professional or at least different hardware in that environment, in that environment, and actually that leads to the omnia concept, which is actually really close to what could be a machine in a gym.

Speaker 2:

Yeah for sure, I'm very, I'm very curious about how this goes. Um, if you decide to launch this concept, because you know probably that quite some fitness players, like sets, the big scandinavian gym chain, tried to launch their own mirrors and, uh, that didn't work out the way it was expected yeah, and that, uh, that, that again, I don't think it's going to be a mirror.

Speaker 3:

Uh, eventually it's just. The mirror is a self-explanatory when you want to tell a story and say, okay, look, it's the reflection of yourself. It was to just screen within you and give you the just the correct and right insights, whether something is good or you need to be alerted and get in touch with a professional. That that's omnia and that's really the again Webing's vision and what we've been hardworking on for the past 15 years. But in the gym, really it's going to be. I mean, it's going to be a big machine, but it's going to be like the ultra powerful scan you could have with the technology we already have developed so far Just going to be a mix and with, of course, the interface and the capabilities of screening people on the go.

Speaker 2:

Reflection of yourself. That also has almost has a metaphysical meaning to me, Mathieu. Last question, Last question what's one thing in fitness or healthcare ecosystems that you've seen so far that excites you most?

Speaker 3:

I think I would say it's how Apple is contributing to the healthcare industry, step by step. They've introduced the ECG with the Apple Watch the same year we did actually, and actually that was super helpful for us because they've brought awareness to this measurement, ecg, which was completely unknown to the whole world. So it helped us a lot, in a way, to actually educate people on this measurement. After that they brought sleep apnea Recently with Apple Watch. We had sleep apnea diagnosis with the sleep analyzer for some years now. So actually it's helping us a lot as well to again education awareness, and that goes in the right direction.

Speaker 3:

In the near future they'll bring hypertension on the wrist. We already have hypertension with the blood pressure and services that connects you with a cardiologist, the hearing feature on the AirPod. This is super useful as well. I mean they're detecting at scale and that's huge. And on our side, I think we can support specific conditions and actually send people to the right person at the right time, and that's where actually those I mean I want to compare with things to Apple, but we are really complimentary in that regard and I think I'm super excited to see where those innovations will lead us.

Speaker 2:

Me too. Thanks a lot, Mathieu. Merci beaucoup.

Speaker 3:

Merci, Nathalie.