YueJiaoLian: Making Sports Coaching as Easy as Ordering Food Online

You may often buy clothes on your phone, have tried ordering food delivery via mobile, or even booked home cleaning services through an app. But have you ever tried scheduling a fitness coach using your phone? I’m not joking, nor is there any trick involved—this can be easily achieved with the “Yue Jiaolian” (Coach Booking) app.

Fitness and health apps are hardly rare in the current market, yet their core functionalities predominantly focus on tracking workout volume, distance, and calories burned, emphasizing strong utility. In contrast to these existing fitness and health applications, “Yue Jiaolian” (Book a Coach) boasts distinct characteristics. Simply put, it is a mobile internet app that integrates platform, social networking, and utility features, helping fitness enthusiasts find satisfactory coaches and like-minded companions.

“Yue Jiaolian” App Screenshot

Atypical Internet EntrepreneurZhao Long, the founder of Yuejiaolian (Coach Booking), spent five years as a journalist before taking on roles in media relations, public relations, marketing, and even smart hardware at a home appliance company. This background appeared to have little connection to mobile internet or sports and health. When discussing why he chose to embark on entrepreneurship and specifically to launch “Yuejiaolian,” he told VCBeat that there were two primary reasons.

First and foremost, I have a deep passion for sports, particularly swimming, where I have achieved a professional level of proficiency among amateur athletes. This motivated me to venture into the sports industry as an entrepreneur, with the aim of addressing common pain points in physical activity through my products.

Secondly, it was due to a chance encounter. On one occasion at a swimming pool, Zhao Long noticed a young swim coach vigorously doing push-ups by the poolside. Upon inquiry, he learned that these coaches often had too few students to teach, leaving them feeling “bored” and resorting to push-ups as a way to pass the time. Zhao Long realized that fitness coaches typically lead modest lives, sometimes even feeling their work lacks prestige, and that their income from traditional gyms or fitness institutions is insufficient. In stark contrast, many people desire professional coaching to guide their workouts and learn new sports, yet traditional institutions or gyms are either too expensive or lack flexibility and deliver poor user experiences. Therefore, he aimed to build a platform that enables fitness coaches to secure enough clients while helping fitness enthusiasts find coaches who suit their preferences.“RMB 100 to Make Personal Trainers Accessible to Everyone”Zhao Long, founder of Yue Jiaolian, introduced to VCBeat that “Yue Jiaolian” is built on mobile internet LBS (Location-Based Services) technology and centers on an O2O business model. Users can filter for the most suitable coaches based on location, price, and coach reviews. Whether beginners seeking introductory training or enthusiasts eager to refine their skills, everyone can find courses of interest on “Yue Jiaolian.”

“Yue Jiaolian” APP has been officially online since February 2015, with nearly a thousand sports coaches registered on the platform and hundreds of users successfully booking their preferred coaches. The app currently offers services in fitness, swimming, yoga, badminton, dance, and more. In addition to enabling users to directly find their favorite coaches, it also provides promotional offerings such as coach bookings for RMB 100 and free trial sessions.

After finding a coach through the booking platform and completing the sessions, users can provide reviews based on their teaching performance and assign tags such as “good-looking,” “professional,” or “patient.” This data and feedback serve as a reference for other users when making their selections.

Furthermore, on the “Book a Coach” platform, users are no longer plagued by issues such as mandatory membership cards and bundled package sales. Instead, they can purchase lessons on a per-session basis according to their class experience, with the flexibility to switch coaches at any time if dissatisfied. This eliminates hesitation caused by the need to pay large lump-sum fees upfront and alleviates concerns about financial waste due to an inability to complete an entire course package for various reasons. Meanwhile, this approach significantly boosts instructors’ motivation.

Zhao Long also introduced to VCBeat that “Yue Jiaolian” (Coach Booking) has recently undergone another upgrade. In addition to helping users find their preferred coaches, the platform now enables them to connect with like-minded peers who share similar interests. It has also incorporated many fresh, engaging, and practical features, such as “Life Time” and “Online Weight Loss Bootcamp.”

“Sentimental Pedometer” Feature in the Latest Version of the App

The “Cutest Route” Feature in the Latest Version

Simply “Scheduling an Appointment” Is Not EnoughRegarding the future development direction of Yue Jiaolian, Zhao Long, the founder of Yue Jiaolian, stated that in addition to continuing to optimize the app, increase the number of registered coaches, and expand the variety of sports offered, Yue Jiaolian will shift its product development focus toward personal health management tools. Although the health management features currently available in the app—such as step counting, calorie estimation, and sleep monitoring—already meet the needs of many heavy users, Yue Jiaolian aims to go beyond this. Zhao Long hopes to engage a larger segment of users with lighter health management needs through fun and engaging approaches.

“Yue Jiaolian” has currently completed its angel round of financing. The core founding team consists of sports enthusiasts passionate about athletics, with many years of management and operational experience in publicly listed companies.