Breathe Sync

What Breathe Sync does

Breathe Sync Ltd is a UK-based, founder-owned private company that developed BreatheSync, the world's first HRV biofeedback breathing app for iPhone, launched on the Apple App Store in October 2013. The company's core technology stack consists of two proprietary components: the BreatheSync® algorithm, which converts live heart-rate signals into personalized breathing rhythms in real time, and the WQ Wellbeing Quotient®, a method of measuring Heart Rate Variability (HRV) during breathing to indicate resilience and overall wellbeing. Both are registered UK trademarks of Breathe Sync Ltd. The product required iPhone hardware for heart-rate capture and delivered guided biofeedback exercises, with UX simplicity specifically highlighted as a differentiator in an era of technology overload.

The company served individual consumers globally via the Apple App Store, with no enterprise or B2B revenue model disclosed. Its go-to-market combined product-led growth (App Store discovery and downloads, reaching a peak of 14,500 daily downloads) with community-led engagement through a monthly newsletter to over 10,000 'breathers,' plus content marketing via the Do Breathe blog and a companion book (over 30,000 copies sold). Marketing partnerships included lululemon (Europe/Asia wellness initiatives) and FuseTea/Coca-Cola (Lisbon brand launch activation). Revenue mechanics relied on app downloads and in-app subscriptions, but no pricing or revenue figures are publicly disclosed. The company was co-founded by Simon Wegerif (technology background at BBC and Phillips) and Michael Townsend Williams (former adman, yoga and mindfulness teacher), and operated with 1–10 employees from Bradford-on-Avon, United Kingdom.

After 9 years of operation, BreatheSync hibernated the iPhone app in 2022; the website currently states the app is no longer available. No successor product, pivot, new funding round, or restructuring announcement has been disclosed in the available data. The company's operating status with respect to its core product is effectively closed, though the broader Do Breathe brand continues to exist via a book, a video product, coaching, welldoing, and teams offerings tied to co-founder Townsend Williams.

Name

Breathe Sync

Legal name

Breathe Sync Ltd

Website

https://breathesync.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Breathe Sync Ltd is a UK-based, founder-owned company that developed BreatheSync, the world's first HRV biofeedback breathing app for iPhone, which delivered personalized breathing exercises via real-time heart-rate signal processing. The app operated from 2013 until its 2022 hibernation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wellness Mobile Applications

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Breathwork Facilitation (Pranayama, Somatic, Holotropic-style) (HSADAJAC)

Keywords

• HRV biofeedback breathing
• Heart rate variability
• Breathing wellness app
• Mindfulness technology
• Wellbeing mobile app

Headquarters

HQ city

Toulon

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Mobile App Sales: Consumer mobile app distributed through the Apple App Store, generating revenue from app downloads and in-app purchases or subscriptions during its active period from October 2013 to hibernation after 9 years.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Breathe Sync developed and operated BreatheSync, the world's first HRV (Heart Rate Variability) biofeedback breathing app for iPhone, launched on the Apple App Store in October 2013. The app used the proprietary BreatheSync® algorithm to convert live heart rate signals into personalized breathing rhythms, paired with the WQ Wellbeing Quotient® to measure resilience and wellbeing. After 9 years of operation, the app was hibernated in 2022.

Product overview

Breathe Sync offered a unified product portfolio centered on HRV biofeedback breathing technology. The core product was the BreatheSync for iPhone app, which utilized the proprietary BreatheSync® algorithm (converting heart rate signals into personalized breathing rhythms) and the WQ Wellbeing Quotient® measurement method. Complementary offerings included the Do Breathe Book and Do Breathe Now video. The company operated under a co-founder model with Simon Wegerif (technology) and Michael Townsend Williams (design, wellbeing). The app launched October 2013 and was hibernated after 9 years.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BreatheSync®: Algorithm that converts live heart rate signals into personalised breathing rhythms
• WQ Wellbeing Quotient®

Products and services

• BreatheSync for iPhone App HRV biofeedback breathing app for iPhone that converts live heart rate signals into personalized breathing rhythms. Targeted at individual consumers seeking accessible breathing, mindfulness, and wellbeing tools.
• Do Breathe Book Published book by Michael Townsend Williams introducing readers to breathing practice and its wellbeing benefits. Endorsed by Michael Acton Smith, Co-Founder of Calm. Over 30,000 copies sold.
• Do Breathe Now Video Guided video offering breathing exercises, offered as an alternative to the discontinued BreatheSync app.

Quantifiable outcome

• Achieved 14,500 daily downloads and downloads in over 100 countries
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• lululemoncoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCollaboration with lululemon for breathing-related initiatives targeting consumers in Europe and Asia. The partnership focused on promoting breathing and wellness to lululemon's health-conscious customer base.
• FuseTeaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCollaboration with FuseTea for launching a new brand with Coca-Cola in Lisbon. BreatheSync participated as a wellness/breathing component of the brand activation.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Broad incumbents

• Insight Timer: Insight Timer is a large free meditation and wellness platform with breathing exercises among its offerings. It serves the same consumer wellness target audience as BreatheSync with a much broader content catalogue.
• Calm: Calm is the dominant consumer meditation and sleep app, with embedded breathing exercises as a core feature. It is the scaled incumbent in the consumer breathwork space that BreatheSync historically operated in, and the Do Breathe book was endorsed by Calm's co-founder.
• Headspace: Headspace is a leading consumer meditation and mindfulness app with a substantial breathing exercises library. It serves the same horizontal consumer wellness segment as BreatheSync and represents a scaled incumbent in the category BreatheSync helped pioneer.

Emerging players

• HRV4Training: HRV4Training is a consumer and athlete-focused HRV measurement app with biofeedback. It overlaps with BreatheSync on HRV-driven personalization and consumer-friendly biofeedback delivery.
• Welltory: Welltory is a consumer HRV and stress-tracking app with personalized recommendations including breathing. It overlaps with BreatheSync on HRV-driven personalization for the same health-conscious consumer segment.
• Elite HRV: Elite HRV is an HRV-focused app and ecosystem for measuring heart rate variability, with overlap into breathing-guided features. It shares BreatheSync's HRV biofeedback technology foundation.

Direct peers

• Oak: Oak is a meditation and breathing app that offers guided breathing and mindfulness sessions. It targets the same horizontal wellness consumer segment as BreatheSync with a similar minimalist product approach.
• Breathwrk: Breathwrk is a dedicated consumer breathwork app that focuses specifically on guided breathing exercises for stress, sleep, and energy. It is the closest direct peer to BreatheSync in product focus and target customer.
• Prana Breath: Prana Breath is a breathing exercise app offering guided pranayama and breathwork sessions. It competes directly with BreatheSync in the consumer breathwork app category on iOS and Android.
• Breathing Zone: Breathing Zone is an iPhone-focused breathing app with guided breathing exercises and biofeedback. It targets the same health-conscious consumer persona and overlaps directly with BreatheSync's offering.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/dobreathenow

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Breathe Sync