Three years in, PivotPass is at a tipping point.
The app, co-founded by self-described “life partners” April Palmer and Brig Leland II, recently inked deals with Apex Clean Energy and the Martin Agency, boosting its usage and raising its profile in the Central Virginia tech ecosystem.
“Our growth efforts are focused on businesses that are headquartered in Richmond, but we can support businesses nationwide,” said Palmer.
Since its inception in late 2015, the health- and wellness-focused PivotPass has followed a winding road.
Originally conceived as a pass that would allow participants access to a gym network in Charlottesville, the startup has since expanded into an all-purpose wellness tool that can be tapped by businesses to encourage employees to take steps toward being more healthy.
“The mission has stayed the same,” Palmer said. “The execution has been refined.”
Today, besides offering discounted access to gyms in both Charlottesville and Richmond (26 in Richmond alone), where Palmer and Leland relocated in 2017, PivotPass includes a wellness savings account into which employers can deposit funds for employees to use on health-related activities and an app that lets users sync wearable devices, such as fitness trackers, to the platform.
“Whatever it is that works … should all be counted in wellness,” Palmer said. “The best type of fitness is the kind you’ll actually do.”
Unusually for an employee wellness tool, PivotPass also lets users within a company interact, tracking outcomes against and offering encouragement to one another if they choose to do so – a feature that can help incentivize healthy behaviors.
Other incentives include a reward program that lets users earn gift cards to shops like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods or, in another unique twist, make donations to charities of their choice.
Since the company rolled out its app and its wellness savings account, businesses have taken notice. In mid-August, Apex Clean Energy expanded its partnership with PivotPass from covering employees in its Charlottesville office to all of its offices nationwide, including outposts in Texas, Minnesota and New York.
That same month, the Martin Agency signed a partnership with the startup to expand its wellness offerings for employees.
Already, PivotPass is seeing rapid results. The startup had set a goal of 10 percent engagement from Apex employees within 10 days of its launch there, and as of September held a 75 percent engagement rate.
“We live in this survival mode where we don’t pay attention to our personal health.”
Palmer sees the strong response as indicative of not just local interest but also national trends, citing studies that show that employees see wellness perks as an important part of a benefits package and a sign of a company’s investment in its workers.
PivotPass, she believes, can help businesses attract talent and keep it while decreasing the burden of overseeing wellness initiatives by human resources departments.
In return, she said, they are likely to see less turnover and may receive a concrete return on investment in terms of reduced insurance costs due to healthier employees.
“We live in this survival mode where we don’t pay attention to our personal health,” she said. All too often, that leads to burnout – an outcome that isn’t conducive to either job success or quality of life.
It’s into that gap that PivotPass steps. And while the technology it uses may be complex, at its base the formula is simple.
“When people are at their healthiest selves,” Palmer said, “they can live their best lives.”
