Major Japanese sportswear maker Asics Corp. has acquired an equity stake in an Indian startup with a network of health monitoring kiosks across the large South Asian country.

Asics' investment arm, Asics Ventures Corp., has invested an undisclosed amount in Pulse Active Stations Network to meet growing demand for Asics products from health-conscious Indian consumers.

"We will provide shoes and running applications to Pulse Active Stations users" by utilizing the Indian firm's health data, an Asics spokeswoman told NNA on Friday.

Asics says it aims to achieve an annual turnover of 400 billion yen ($3.7 billion) with an overseas sales share of 70 percent this year. The Kobe-based firm hopes to raise sales in India by 25 percent to 2.4 billion yen.

The Indian firm has installed about 150 health monitoring kiosks at railway stations, bus stops, airports and shopping malls where customers can measure height, weight, blood pressure and blood glucose for only 50 rupees (about 70 cents).

The Hyderabad-based firm hopes to boost the number of such kiosks to more than 10,000 in the next three years. (NNA/Kyodo)

==Kyodo

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