🔒Digital health startup Kinotek raises $2M for new hires, expansion

Kinotek, a Portland-based developer of a digital health platform for body-motion assessment, recently raised $2 million in post-seed equity financing to finance its next growth chapter. The startup, founded in 2018 by University of Maine alumni Justin Hafner and David Holomakoff and led by CEO Pat Panaia since 2022, said it will use the funds to add employees and fund expansion in the United States and abroad. "Our largest expansion is right here," Panaia told Mainebiz. "Americans want to take better care of our health." Staffed by 14 employees, including a dozen in Maine, the company has used initial funds from the equity raise to hire a chief movement expert as well as a field representative in San Diego and a customer retention director in Portland. The plan is to add two to three more full-time employees in the next 18 months as Kinotek aims to make greater inroads in the fast-growing AI-powered fitness and wellness niche, with an estimated global market of $7.8 billion.

Expansion plans

Kinotek’s platform, which helps health and wellness professionals measure a client’s mobility, imbalances and overall movement within seconds, is used in fitness clubs, gyms and other facilities in 44 states and six foreign countries, including Canada, Brazil, the Philippines and Egypt. While opportunities in those markets came out of approaches from people who had seen Kinotek at a trade conference or via cold calls, Panaia said Kinotek is actively targeting the Middle East and North Africa for expansion in 2026 for two reasons. First, “there is a huge, sometimes government-led initiative to get their populations healthy,” she said. And second, “we’ve made contact there with a very interested distributor who wants to represent and sell for us.” She also said the company may be expanding in Brazil and has additional prospects in Canada, "but will follow that as sales occur."

Bullish outlook

As for the fitness and wellness industry as a whole, “the outlook is very good with several trends in our favor, including the fact that gyms are evolving into health care hubs, and the rapid rise of the ‘longevity movement,” Panaia said. “Oh, and the digitization of health in general.” The $2 million fundraising round was led by the Maine Venture Fund, in partnership with Florida-based Bridge Angels and individual investors. Maine-based investors made up 75% of the investors and 93% of the dollars invested, according to Panaia. “We’ve been working with Kinotek since they were beta testing, so it’s exciting to see them at this inflection point of revenues and global reach,” said Nina Scheepers, principal at Maine Venture Fund. “MVF is excited to lead this funding round to fuel their next stage of growth."