Smart belt company WELT‘s Kickstarter campaign gains momentum



On Sept. 22, the startup company WELT announced that, having accumulated $70,000 as of Sept. 12, it had raised more than double its original crowdfunding goal for its independently developed smart belt.

The smart belt is a wearable health care device that measures and helps users manage health indicators based on the abdominal area. WELT recently displayed the product at the IFA, an annual consumer electronics show held in Germany, where it gained significant attention from prospective overseas clients.

WELT smart belts can be used in place of regular belts, and are able to take and save measurements related to users’ waistline, number of steps taken, and number of hours spent seated. It can predict not only abdominal obesity but also other illnesses related to poor lifestyle habits.

“The belt can detect numerous indicators of health. For example, if you are seated on the toilet for over 10 minutes, you are at risk of developing hemorrhoids. If you are seated for over 20 minutes, you may be experiencing constipation.” said CEO Kang Sung-jee, who is also a physician.

“With the WELT smart belt, users will be able to better predict and manage these types of problems.”

The belt takes its measurements using an attached sensor.

“The sensor takes measurements based on the tightness of the belt around the waist. We got the idea from the fact that belt holes are a uniform distance apart from one another,” said Kang.

The measurements are uploaded to and saved on an exclusive app that connects to the belt via Bluetooth; this data can then be provided to medical institutions when users receive health check-ups.

The belt is slated to enter mass production in December 2016, and will be sold at prices ranging from 100,000 to 200,000 won, depending on the model.

(jshwang@heraldcorp.com)