Canadian wellness app Carrot Rewards shuts down due to lack of funding

Toronto-based health and wellness app Carrot Rewards has shut down.

The closure seemingly comes with no prior warning to the publishing of today’s blog post. When opening the app, users will be met with a message that says it can no longer be used.

In its blog post, Carrot confirmed that despite efforts to generate renewed investment in the free-to-use app, it was unable to secure the necessary funding to continue.

Carrot says any points earned up until now will remain in users’ accounts. Overall, Carrot says more than one million people have used the app and walked more than one trillion steps altogether.

Carrot was founded in 2015 with initial funding provided by the Ontario government. The Carrot Rewards app first launched in British Columbia in March 2016 before rolling out to Newfoundland and Labrador in June 2016 and Ontario in February 2017. During this time, provincial and federal governments invested further into Carrot.

The app garnered a sizeable userbase by offering rewards for popular loyalty programs like Cineplex’s Scene, RBC Rewards and Aeroplan. in exchange for hitting daily step goals. Users could also challenge friends to hit their daily step goals, with rewards being given for repeated mutual success.

Beyond step goals, Carrot Rewards also offered points for completing quizzes related to various health, educational and financial subjects.

While the base app was always free to use, the company introduced paid ‘Carrot Plus’ subscription tiers last November that gave users bonus points for hitting their daily goals.

Carrot founder has Andreas Souvaliotis to MobileSyrup that Carrot Plus subscribers should reach out to the App Store or Play Store for refunds. Meanwhile, Souvaliotis says “a large number of leading brands” have expressed interest in hiring former members of the now-defunct Carrot team.