ShapeUp

In 2006, Dr. Rajiv Kumar and Dr. Brad Weinberg were medical students at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Early in their clinical rotations, the two future doctors realized an important commonality among their patients who had successfully changed their lifestyles and improved their health by exercising more, eating better, and losing weight: they leveraged the support and accountability of their friends, family, and colleagues, instead of doing it alone. With this revelation, the two decided to set out on a mission: make health interventions social to increase the likelihood that people achieve their health goals. ShapeUp was born on a piece of notebook paper in the library of Brown Medical School.

A lot has happened since our inception. Over the past eight years, we’ve used social networking, gaming, and behavioral economics to support over 200 employers and health plans around the world in their efforts to empower their employees and members to become healthier. Through our work, we’ve helped participants lose over one million pounds of weight and have fun while doing it.