Startup Stars: Prevess pioneering personalised nutrition with AI

The platform's goal is to translate knowledge into tangible health and performance improvements, relying on factual data, clinical reviews, meta-analyses, and rigorously vetted sources.

The platform has been c​hosen as one of NutraIngredients' three ‘Start-Up Stars’ who have won the opportunity to present their businesses to industry leaders at The Active Nutrition Summit​ in Amsterdam.

Pro-athlete turned innovator​

Speaking to NutraIngredients in advance of his conference appearance, Spring explains his journey as a professional athlete inspired him to create Prevess​. 

Frustrated by the lack of proper nutrition guidance during his swimming career, he ventured into the world of performance nutrition, dedicating 12 years to understanding the subject.

This journey culminated in the creation of Prevess in 2020, aimed at offering nutritional counselling for competitive athletes and help prevent injury through the platform's inbuilt understanding of injuries, effective treatments, and pre-emptive strategies.

He explains that the service can scrutinising training, nutrition, hydration, and rest, to ensure wellbeing and sustainable performance.

But what makes the platform different is that it provides a ChatGPT service that answers nutrition questions based on science and context. 

The chat considers personal data, wearable technology, and genomic information to provide answers grounded in over 5,000 scientific papers, available in over 35 languages.

User experience​

The startup has “established an ecosystem of Application Programming Interface (API) integrations while prioritising user convenience and personalisation,” Spring notes.

The business model involves sports clubs acquiring licenses for this software, giving their athletes constant access to science-based nutrition advice.

As well as answering the user's nutrition questions, the service provides personalised meal plans and training programs taking into account the user's sleep patterns, dietary choices, gender, environment, and even the effects of circumstances such as jet lag. 

A user, having inputted health statistics and giving access to data from apps or wearables, will be able to ask Prevess’ for nutrition advice at any time and receive answers backed by scientific studies.

And to enhance convenience for users, the service has integrated with Amazon Fresh for streamlined shopping.  

Transparency and differentiation​

The platform draws on a comprehensive collection of over 250 carefully selected scientific articles from esteemed journals, such as the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition and the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

As Spring notes, Prevess AI avoids unverified theories and animal-based studies, focusing on established scientific understanding.

With industry concerns around AI and the authenticity of information, Spring explains that the Chat AI feature can only use information chosen and fed by Prevess. 

He explains: “It's important for us to highlight that we not only train our AI, but we also test it with different health professionals and consultants in different areas as well.”

Spring notes that in the future there may be companies attempting to mimic Prevess’ offering, but that their focus on being a scientifically minded company is what sets them apart.

 ​