MAGIC, one of the UK’s first AI personal trainers, announced a €2.3 million investment led by Fasanara Capital, alongside London’s SFC Capital to expand the company’s innovative technology across the UK.
Founded in 2021, MAGIC uses cutting-edge holographic technology to offer an immersive fitness experience. Celebrity athletes and sports stars appear as a hologram inside MAGIC’s AI wall mirror. They coach users via a series of programmes, giving what feels like 1:1 personal training in strength, dance, boxing, yoga, and sports techniques.
ReflectAI®, MAGIC’s proprietary AI technology, makes the experience truly unique. An embedded camera in the system tracks your movements, offers instant feedback on your form, and tells you to adjust your position as needed. The trainer even counts your reps in real-time and pauses when you do, giving a fully hyper-personalised workout.
Powered by advanced algorithms, ReflectAI® helps users get the most out of every rep and prevent injury, whilst the mirror helps users to see themselves as they follow the athlete’s form.
In combination with ReflectAI®, MAGIC has assembled an A-team of celebrity athletes who have come onboard as athlete-coaches and brand ambassadors. These include former England Cricket Captain & legend, Sir Alastair Cook, who reveals his secret batting techniques and upper body strength, alongside Strictly Come Dancing champion Katya Jones, who teaches her unique dance methodology. Team GB Olympic record breakers Asha Philip & Desiree Henry coach their techniques to build lower body strength for sprinting, and England Rugby Star Celia Quansah reveals her training regime.
CEO and Co-founder, Varun Bhanot, said “I went through my own personal health journey losing 25% of my body fat, but in the process realised how old-fashioned and expensive personal training was. I thought there must be a way to automate this experience at scale using AI and data-driven hardware. I faced imposter syndrome and had no clue how to build a hardware company, but I didn’t let that stop me. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I sold treadmills online, raising £50k to develop our first prototype from my parents’ basement. After countless rejections, I leveraged that prototype to secure this round. Now, we are democratising personal training, aiming to tackle the UK’s alarming inactivity levels and the £6B/year NHS spending on obesity-related ill-health.”
Francesco Filia, CEO of Fasanara Capital, commented: “As AI continues to transform the way we live and work such as with ChatGPT and Midjourney, MAGIC and their ReflectAI technology is at the forefront of this exciting trend as consumers demand more personalised health and wellness experiences.”
Early fans include Sir Richard Branson who lent his support as the company is backed by Virgin Startup, along with an A-list of British angel investors including the CEO of JustPark (Anthony Eskinazi), Head of Product at Spotify (Martin Gould), CEO of OLIO the food waste app (Saasha Celestial-One), former GM of Stripe UK, President of Citymapper, CEO of Heights brain supplements (Dan Murray-Serter), Co-founder Signal AI (Miguel Martinez), COO of Citigroup (Cameron Dick), CMO of Tough Mudder and co-founder of Beamery.
