Ann Arbor-based Saagara, the maker of breathing exercise apps for mobile devices, plans to release new products aimed at specific health conditions in the coming months after spending a year of marketing a yoga-inspired app for the iPhone, says co-founder and CEO Nagabhushanam “Bobby” Peddi.
(I actually demoed the firm’s yoga breathing app online for a few minutes one morning last week, during a time when I’m typically in a breathless race to meet a deadline or preparing for an interview. It’s great, but maybe sad too, that we now have apps to help us breathe properly.)
The startup aims to begin selling its first “non-yoga” breathing app at the Apple iStore this week, following feedback from some users who didn’t like the yoga themes in its existing products, Peddi says. Since its initial December 2009 release, the firm’s breathing app called “Pranayama” has been downloaded 128,000 times and is now available for Apple mobile devices, Android smartphones, and on personal computers via the Web.
Users have told the firm that the app helps them manage their stress, migraines, and other conditions. And though some users weren’t crazy about the yoga connotations in the existing apps, the company’s reviews online have been mostly positive, Peddi says.
Yet the startup is growing up from its yoga roots. It’s now getting advice from Ted Dacko, the former CEO of HealthMedia. Dacko is working with Peddi and company co-founder Alessandra Noelting on a new service to
