As AI reshapes everything from banking to entertainment, one German startup is betting it can do the same for fitness. Zing Coach has built an AI-powered workout app that aims to be smart, adaptive, and personalised.
The company, headquartered in Munich, has operational teams in Warsaw and Cyprus, and it raised $10 million in June 2024. It combines proprietary health data, real-time adaptation, and computer vision to deliver tailored exercise plans that evolve alongside each user's needs.
At the helm is new CEO Anton Marchanka, an entrepreneur with deep roots in the fitness tech space, who sees Zing as the beginning of a paradigm shift toward agentic AI in fitness. I spoke to Marchanka to learn more.
Adaptive fitness, powered by real-time data
Zing Coach offers a highly personalised, data-driven approach to exercise. It builds individualised training plans based on a user's unique body composition, fitness level, and workout history, drawing on data from its own Fitness Test and Body Composition Scan, as well as Apple Health.
Powered by AI, Zing continuously adapts each user's program in real time, adjusting intensity, complexity, and duration based on factors like fatigue, progress, and training environment, whether at home or in the gym.
With over 400 guided exercises, Zing Coach uses computer vision technology to track users' movements, helping them improve form, avoid injury, and make measurable progress.
The platform customises workouts to suit available equipment, target muscle groups, and even health restrictions, positioning itself as a smart companion that evolves alongside its users' goals.
Marchanka has extensive experience in mobile marketing and product management.
At Mosaic Group Holdings, he served as General Manager and led a portfolio of 20 mobile apps with 600 million users globally. Previously, he was Vice President of Business Operations at Daily Burn as well as Vice President of Marketing at Apalon.
His experience spans portfolio management, product strategy, and digital user acquisition.
The next generation of health apps is personal by design
Marchanka believes there are three key trends at play in health and fitness:
- AI-powered personalisation.: Everyone from small startups to companies like Whoop and Oura are using AI to create hyper-personalised experiences.
- Data as a foundation: AI without meaningful user data is useless. Companies with access to rich, proprietary health data will define the future of this space.
- Holistic health: Fitness is no longer just about workouts. It's about sleep, stress, nutrition, and mental well-being. People are realising that to get real results, they need to address everything, not just training.
He asserts that there's also a shift in focus.
"It's no longer about whether you lose 20 pounds by your wedding. It's about how you feel throughout the process. Enjoying the journey matters just as much — if not more — than reaching the goal."
Further, unlike the early days of app stores, there's more attention given to the veracity of wellness apps, which often fall short due to a lack of scientific rigour, personalisation, and accountability. To avoid these pitfalls, Zing works with medical institutions in Switzerland, and all of its content is developed in collaboration with experts — especially when it comes to users with specific conditions like joint injuries.
Marchanka asserts that AI has resulted in a shift from cohort-based personalisation to individual personalisation.
"Pre-AI, we grouped users based on demographics or behaviour. Now, we can treat each user uniquely, just like a real doctor would.
We consider your heart rate, sleep, mobility, preferences, and craft the experience around you.
Our goal isn't to replace human coaches. It's to amplify their capabilities and make expert guidance scalable. AI agents should be extensions of real people, not substitutes."
"A full circle moment" in mobile apps
In terms of the state of the mobile app market, Marchanka believes we're seeing a "full-circle moment—almost like we're back in the early 2010s when the App Store was still new and app development felt revolutionary."
"That shift moved people from web to mobile. It created billion-dollar companies like Duolingo that could only exist because of the app ecosystem."
He asserts we're on the cusp of another paradigm shift: from apps to AI agents.
Zing is building an AI agent that can eventually outperform even our most experienced human experts.
"This isn't just buzz. We're moving away from rigid, use-case-based applications to flexible AI agents that can reason, learn, and adapt. It's like we've gone from building tools to training companions."
"In five years, I believe everyone will have their own personalised AI that assists with everything from communication to decision-making. This changes the whole dynamic of how we build and use software," shared Marchanka.
I was curious what this means for developers: are they becoming obsolete, or more empowered? Marchanka recalled that a former colleague once told him there are two kinds of developers: code writers and value creators.
Code writers, who primarily translate specifications into syntax, are the most vulnerable to AI automation. But value developers, the ones thinking in terms of architecture, systems, and impact, are more essential than ever. AI has eliminated a lot of the boring, repetitive work in app development, and thus, developers who embrace it can focus on higher-order thinking and solving meaningful problems.
"In my ideal team, we'd have just a few highly capable developers managing the system's architecture while the AI does the rest. So I see software development evolving into something more like a craft, or even an art. Less code, more creativity," he shared.
Virality is no longer a strategy for app-building startups
For startups launching an app today, it's a brutally competitive landscape. Why do so many fail to gain traction?
Marchanka asserts that the bar is much higher than in the easy days of the App Store when just getting the right keywords or app name could shoot you to the top of search results:
"Now, you're effectively locked into paid marketing. Organic growth still exists, but it's hard. And even platforms like Meta or TikTok, which still allow for some creative virality, are becoming more commercialised."
He sees TikTok as a game-changer:
"It's still possible to reach large audiences by working with micro-influencers and creating highly engaging, short-form content. But even that takes investment.
You need to budget for creative, influencer coordination, and production. If you're starting from zero today, your best bet is to build a product with strong retention and engagement, then raise funds to amplify it.
Trying to rely solely on virality is like buying a lottery ticket."
Reflecting on the pace of technological change, Marchanka looks to his own family:
"I often think about my grandmother. She was born in a small village in 1930, where even having a telephone was rare. By the time she passed away in her mid-80s, she'd lived to see the age of AI agents.
That's a massive shift in one lifetime. Now it's our turn to shape the next leap — and I want Zing to be at the forefront of that journey."
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