Vadim Fedotov CEO and Co-Founder of bioniq shares more on this game-changing new health optimisation concept as it launches in the UAE for the first time.
Looking after our health is something that has become more of a priority than ever since the COVID-19 pandemic. With our wellbeing at the forefront of our minds, we must consider this vital element before anything else in life. But sometimes it’s difficult to understand what is going on with our bodies or to know how to optimise our health to be the best possible versions of ourselves. Sometimes even a visit to the doctor can’t help with that nagging tiredness we might feel on a daily basis or our unexplained lack of energy or then ability to sleep well. When former professional basketball player Vadim Fedotov was facing these exact issues he decided to take matters into his own hands by creating a pioneering health monitoring system that would allow us to analyse our health and wellbeing in more detail than ever before and ultimately allow us to optimise our health and wellbeing potential.
Founded in 2019 bioniq was created as an innovative concept that helps you to find a new and improved you. Based on data from thousands of patients around the world and years of clinical research bioniq will analyse your health at a number of levels from a simple blood test and help you to become the better version of yourself through a series of steps. Once your blood has been taken a team of medical experts will analyse your sample, providing you with data-driven results as well as a nutrition plan to improve your health moving forward. Alongside this, you will receive a personalised blend of granules that will give you all the nutrients your body needs. Comprised of up to 120 components, the bioniq LIFE Swiss patented formula includes probiotics, vitamins, enzymes and micro-elements. It is blended into tiny granules which release active ingredients into the bloodstream during a sustained period to enhance absorption in the body. Each patient will receive a completely unique blend that is right for them.
As Bioniq launches in the UAE in partnership with King’s College Hospital London, we find out more about the game-changing concept with CEO and Co-Founder Vadim Fedotov
Can you tell us in your own words a little about the concept of Bioniq?
Bioniq is a health monitoring platform that provides personalised solutions for you, based on clinically proven data. If you went to a doctor they would consult you, do a blood test and a check-up and based on their education and the other patients they have treated before you, they will make a recommendation for you. The issue is that a doctor doesn’t have more capability than 100 or 150 patients at one time, so the bandwidth of knowledge her or she has compared to who you are as a client is quite limited. When you use a system like bioniq, which has at this moment, three million data points, (the largest database of continuous testing in the world), your data and your results will be compared to tens of thousands of people who are comparable to you. Our team can see what each patient may have been prescribed in the past and how it worked for them. So you will get a much quicker and more efficient solution that’s tailormade for you, based on data that has been proven by independent doctors.
The idea was to look at how we can use the innovations process to gather data and use the data to make you healthier quicker or support your immune system in a way that it becomes more optimised. We realised that there are two categories of people. The first are the ones who are generally healthy and want to optimise their health and the second are the ones who are not healthy, but they don’t know anything about it. 32 per cent of our clients over the last three years have come to use wanting personalised micronutrients and vitamins and they have found out that they have other health conditions like problems with their cholesterol, a tendency to develop diabetes, problems with food intake, inflammation levels, all those things they don’t know about and they have been wondering ‘why do I have brain fog?’ ‘Why am I so tired all the time?’ etc. All of these things are actually explainable.
The gap between monitoring your full health should never be more than three months because our bodies change so much due to factors like weather, stress, food habits, the environment etc. All of these kinds of things are constantly impacting us and you can’t wait for a year to have a health check, it’s something that needs to be continuous, especially after a certain age and that’s what we provide with our system.
How does the process work practically from start to finish?
To begin with, you will go to our website and choose a package. Once you’ve purchased the product a client manager will reach out to you to arrange for a nurse to come and do a blood test. Our blood tests are done by independent labs in each of our markets. A week later you will get your results. Our medical team will then review your results and prepare a dietician who will talk to you to pinpoint what you should focus on in regards to your health. You will meet with a nutritionist who will discuss your diet and what you are currently eating and they will advise on a plan moving forward. Seventy per cent of your results are nutrition-based. People are looking for a magic pill but there is no magic pill. It’s a lot about nutrition and this is the reason why we start with a nutritionist because we want to lay the groundwork. After this, you will get your personalised nutrient formula.
What is so special about the formula?
The bioniq LIFE formula uses Swiss-produced granules which are formed with patented technology that can feature up to 120 components at the same time. One spoonful every morning and night is all you need. So anyone who has ever had dozens of bottles of different vitamins on the kitchen counter (like me in the past), can get rid of all of those and keep just this one. The technology of these granules means that everything is being absorbed in the right way. It’s a slow process that takes up to 12 hours. If you take a regular vitamin or nutrient pill it will include other ingredients in it that will make sure it is absorbed quicker by increasing your insulin which is actually the reaction you are trying to avoid. Because increasing your insulin makes you absorb whatever is in your system, and this includes whatever food you just had. Our granules on the other hand don’t increase your insulin to speed up absorption, instead, they are gradually being absorbed over twelve hours. We have been partnering with our Swiss partner since day one and they have been working on this innovation and research for 25 years.
You don’t have a medical background so how did the idea for the bioniq concept first come about?
I played professional sports for many years and I had several serious knee surgeries over that time so I was exposed to the progression of medicine quite early on. And at the same time as a professional sportsman, I was always asking myself ‘what can I do to perform better?’ After this, I went to work in a corporate environment and while being in that world I started to notice symptoms in terms of brain fog, I didn’t feel as strong, I didn’t want to work out in the evening anymore. So I started to wonder how can someone like me who has a sports background and spends so much time, money and resources on health, feel so tired all the time? And this is when it started. I went to my doctor and told him about all my problems and he told me that everything I was doing was wrong. He did a blood test and said he was going to tell me what I should improve on. I was expecting him to tell me exactly what I should be focusing on, but when he looked at my blood results he said to me “you’re fine, you’re not ill.” And the moment I realised that traditional medicine is only designed to treat illness. But if you’re not ill they don’t know what to do with you! And I wanted to optimise myself. My symptoms were there, it didn’t mean I had an illness but I knew I wasn’t the best version of me. So it began as a personal itch that I wanted to scratch and I was looking for a system that puts everything into one, monitors me regularly, offers personal solutions and actually follows up on them.
I travelled all around the world and I found lots of companies that did something, but nobody had the whole system. And that’s when I started to look for a Medical Director and I found my Co-Founder Dr Constantin Karuzin who is a Neurosurgeon. He had been working in this field for over 20 years and it was a perfect match. He had the medical side of things, I had the business development part, we clicked and took it from there. We launched in London in 2019 and then in Russia and now the UAE and we are planning to launch in the United States. The demand there is huge. It’s been a very interesting ride!
How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect the rollout of your business?
There are two parts to this answer. Firstly, for a couple of weeks, it affected us severely because people were so scared and they didn’t want to see nurses, they didn’t want people in their homes. But then we realised, our target audience which used to be 35+ was becoming much younger. This was because younger people were thinking a lot more about their health and the health of their parents and families. So we started to see a lot more people in their twenties signing up for themselves and their parents which was actually quite positive. I think because there’s no need for you to go to the clinic and everything is done in your home really helped because we could take advantage of people’s reluctance to go out and actually bring the service to their homes. The new economy is that people want to move as little as needed to get the best services possible.
Where does exercise fit into the concept?
Exercise is part of the concept. We have people who request exercise recommendations and we are partnering with gym chains in every market that we’re in. But again, if you look at percentages, nutrition is still the number one factor. Whether you exercise or not, if your diet is good, everything else is on top. So the foundation is nutrition, then micronutrients then exercise and last but not least; sleep. People underestimate the power of sleep. A good exercise without proper sleep just doesn’t have the same impact. There is a book called “Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker. He says that for 95 per cent of people six to eight hours is the recommended amount of sleep. But the important part is that within that time two to two and a half hours of that should be deep REM sleep. If you don’t have this deep REM sleep it doesn’t matter if you sleep for ten hours or five. There are many factors that affect whether you can get into this state of sleep: temperature, how dark it is, not checking your mobile devices before you sleep etc. but once you can build up your REM sleep you can find a perfect balance.
Tell us about the plan for bioniq in the UAE?
We have launched our first product bioniq LIFE in the UAE. We are very particular as to how we launch it and we have very good experience in other markets so we know that when you enter a new market it’s all about brand awareness and building trust. The first thing we did was to partner with reputable clinics because people will know that while people may not have heard of us, they will know that those clinics wouldn’t partner with something that isn’t clinically proven or interested in your wellbeing. Then we started talking to people and organising focus groups to get them to understand how our product works. When you’re a start-up company, the brand comes after the founder. As the founder people trust you first and then they trust the brand as it grows, so because we are still new, I’m still part of the brand. And that’s how we’re building it up.
What’s your professional motto?
Having played professional sports for over ten years I believe in ‘team’. I understand that everyone has a role in a team and if you want to score the most points then you need the support of other people. In terms of our hiring within our business, we are all about the people. We can teach you everything in terms of the business but you have to have that spirit and I feel this team concept is a huge part of bioniq.
What’s one of the most interesting discoveries you’ve made along the way?
One thing was that when I started the company I spoke to other founders who were successful and they said: ‘be prepared to speak about your company 300 times per day with the same enthusiasm five years after launching’. And I said ‘that’s impossible!’ And they told me that’s what the real founders can do. And here I am years later and I’m repeating myself for the ninth time today but I still have the drive that I had three years ago, maybe even more because I can actually see the results.
The second thing that surprised me is that 32 per cent of our clients initially wanted to get their vitamins but found out that they have inclinations and serious health risks that they didn’t know about before coming to us. So this is something that was a huge surprise for all of us, but it also makes me very happy that we’re able to provide this preventive service which is very important.
Who is your biggest inspiration?
My father. He’s been my inspiration my whole life. My parents were very young when they had me and he was a professional tennis player turned very successful businessman. Every single big deal in my career I would discuss with him and I admire his character as he is one of the most rational, calm unselfish people you will ever meet. So I didn’t have to look too far, the inspiration was always there.
What is a message you would send to people in the UAE on why they should sign up for bioniq?
We need to change our approach to health. People know more so much about so many things but they don’t know enough about their bodies. You would be surprised by how many people don’t know their blood type or what their Vitamin D level should be. So my message is: invest more into yourself, find out more about yourself because everything will fall in line once you do.
Find out more at www.bioniq.com
