It can be a challenge for people to live a healthy lifestyle and find time for exercise, especially with a job that requires frequent travel. On his way home from a business trip, Chris Freise found himself reflecting on his poor living habits, which led to the development of UpDown, an app that allows users to build individualized workouts and to track them anywhere.

Freise said that the app is focused primarily on fitness right now, and his team has built incentives into the app to motivate people to live a healthier life.

“The basic principle of making the app individualized is still at the core of UpDown,” Friese said.

After graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in physics in medicine and a masters in business and entrepreneurship, Freise moved to Madison to work at Epic.

“I took a job with Epic here in Madison, as it was a great blend of my passions for healthcare, technology and business,” Freise said.

In October 2014, Freise decided to staff up. He recruited his cousin, Matt Furyk, a personal trainer who now serves as Chief Wellness Officer; his brother, Mike Freise, for the design work; and his friend from college, Jes Greenwood, who had knowledge about computers and now is the CTO. Together, the four incorporated UpDown on January 5, 2015.

After leaving Epic to start UpDown, Freise had to make the decision to stay in Madison or move to California, where he is from originally.

“I’m still here in Madison because I’ve found it to be supportive for a startup with the great entrepreneurship community and resources here,” Freise said.

The app is marketed toward individual consumers as well as businesses. Freise said that for businesses, the app can be used as a wellness solution and an employee benefit.

“Employees can get advice on and track their fitness through the application and then purchase rewards directly through UpDown,” Freise said. “The goal is that a business will see improvement in company engagement and productivity and eventually can cut down on healthcare costs.”

Freise said that consumers can download the freemium model of the app, which will allow them to build and track workouts and communicate with friends. Users who pay a monthly fee will be able to gain access to the rewards system as well as other pieces of functionality. Businesses interested in purchasing the app will pay a monthly licensing fee based on how many employees are using the app.

The free consumer version of the app will be available this September. The premium consumer version and the business version will launch early 2016.

The founders presented their idea at 1 Million Cups in March and received positive feedback. Freise said the most useful advice they have been given is to narrow their focus on the core features that make their product unique and to cut out features that are not essential.

Freise said that for now the founders are putting all their time and effort into their first app.

“We want to continue building UpDown so that it evolves over time and is always pushing the frontiers of functionality in a fitness application,” Freise said. “Certainly there are many other wellness areas we could get into in the future, but for now we are 100 percent all-in on this first product.”