Finland Based Startup StepOut Aims To Simplify Freelancing For 100,000 Fitness & Wellbeing Freelancers In India By The End Of 2022
Tarnjit Saini 25, born in India, raised in Finland; Sanni Ishfaq 25, born and raised in Finland, with a Pakistani descent came together as student entrepreneurs in 2019 to build a solution to assist freelancers in the field of fitness, wellness and recreation to build and grow their businesses without having to spend excessive amounts of time, effort and resources. With a personal background of being a dance trainer, Tarnjit has experienced all the pain-points herself for 7 years that a trainer has to go through if they are not associated with a bigger gym or studio, do not have the right opportunities and most importantly do not speak the same language no matter how vastly skilled they are in their own expertise. Tarnjit and Sanni joined hands, unlocked their risk-taking mindset with much needed determination and belief in each other and stepped into their first entrepreneurial journey together.
It is after a lot of iterations, twists and turns, testing, amazing milestones, from bagging a government project with the City of Helsinki to becoming the 3rd Hottest Startup of Finland in March 2021 StepOut is ready to tap into the Indian fitness & wellness market to empower freelancers to earn a living out of what they love.
StepOut is building an all-in-one, affordable and user-friendly web-tool to assist freelancers in streamlining their business processes just like a smart manager. With this tool a freelancer can establish and improve their personal branding, publish, sell and host sessions, track bookings, receive payments, marketing and much more – enabling smooth operations & smarter execution utilising data analytics & machine learning. StepOut aims to help freelancers in turning their passion into a profession in the most convenient way possible with this little manager in their pocket, no matter what background one comes from or what kind of tech expertise they have. “StepOut liberates people to do what they love for a living. It’s definitely a cause worth fighting! A great team and a lucrative market nailed the deal.” – Teemu Takala, Angel investor & Venture builder
With 11 notable investors from Finland, Belgium and Sweden, the startup is setting foot into the Indian market where a waiting list of trainers is already looking forward to the launch of the tool that will change their operations for the best. StepOut raised their angel round of $180,000 led by Mr. Reima Linnanvirta (Chairman of Finnish Business Angels Network). ‘’StepOut is tackling a significant problem in the wellness and fitness market by enabling and empowering independent trainers to provide classes to users around the world. The market is growing and there are good opportunities for a solution like this, especially in the targeted market like India. As founders Tarnjit and Sanni have shown to have skills that are required to build a world-class startup.’’ – Mr. Reima Linnanvirta, Angel Investor
“StepOut is impacting positively to people’s wellbeing and environment, both very important topics for me personally. StepOut is tapping into the fast growing trend of utilising remote tools in wellness, making activity events accessible for anyone, anywhere, anytime and saving time and travelling. I was very impressed with the team, their approach and how they are empowering the trainers and solving real-life problems of micro entrepreneurs.” – Mr. Ilari Kallio, Investor & Chairman of the Board, StepOut
The South Asian female founders happen to be the first youngest entrepreneurs of the descent in Finland to have secured an investment at this stage. “We feel extremely lucky to be able to create convenient earning opportunities for a huge number of people where they can earn a living by doing what they love the most using our solution. Escalating this journey hasn’t been all sunshine but it feels amazing to know that our investors have put in their full trust in us and are equally supportive of our mission.’’- Tarnjit Saini & Sanni Ishfaq, StepOut Founders
“Stepout is tapping into a massive market for freelancers. According to industry studies of the Indian retail fitness services market, there are more than six million active users in India who are spending on an average $350 to $400 annually towards fitness services, amounting to $2.6 billion market size. Step out is going to provide services for these markets who want to make it easier for them to manage and operate their business and focus on what is important – getting the nation fit and healthy. I believe Stepout team has a great advantage being from nations which are seeing a rising trend & spend on personal fitness including online training due to Covid-19.” – Shamma Raghib, Angel Investor
“The space that the company is going into is growing rapidly, largely fueled by the (post) pandemic increased use of digital tools. The team knows their target markets well, have a defensible strategy, and take a systematic lean-startup approach in their solution development.” – Fabian Sepulveda, Angel Investor
This diverse team shares a strong passion and mindset towards their mission which is to empower freelancers, creating convenient earning opportunities and encouraging a growth mindset. Changing the lives of 100,000 freelancer trainers in India by the end of 2022 is StepOut’s next big goal. “I believe in the two energetic founders!” – Martti Suomela, Investor
The waiting list to gain early access to the platform is open at www.stepout.pro & the first 1000 trainers get free access to the platform for 3 months if they publish their profile for free now. The platform launches in early 2022!
Follow StepOut on social media:
Media Contact
Company Name: StepOut (LetStepOut Oy)
Contact Person: Tarnjit Saini
Email: Send Email
City: Helsinki
Country: Finland
Website: https://www.stepout.pro/
