Fitbit founders launch $250 LTE health band Luffu Link
What's the deal? LuffuDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a startup from Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman, on Tuesday launched Luffu Link, an LTE-enabled band that monitors the wearer's physical and mental health. The screenless device combines all-day health sensing, voice logging, location awareness, and the ability to call for help — even with no phone nearby.
The $250 band is available for pre-order and ships in early 2027. It comes in three colours: halo gold, onyx black, and sterling blue.
Why now? Luffu grew out of Park and Friedman's own experiences caring for aging parents. It aims to give families a clearer view of a loved one's health without constant check-ins or making them feel watched.
"When you become a family caregiver, or the CEO of the family, these people are spending an enormous amount of time doing it," Park told TechCrunch. He cited research showing an average of more than 27 hours a week, adding that existing tools are "pretty fragmented."
What's the endgame? Link is the next step toward what Luffu calls an intelligent family care system. It complements the company's health-monitoring app, launched earlier this year, which uses AI to organise family information, learn daily patterns, and flag notable changes.
How it works: Users press a button to log medications, symptoms, meals, or mood by voice, which the app folds into the family's broader context. The band also tracks activity, sleep, resting heart rate, heart-rate variability, and breathing rate.
"Link does a lot of what a typical health tracker would do, but it's not just about tracking," Park said. "It's about what Luffu does with that data. It's looking for patterns." He said the goal is to answer questions like "what changed? Does it matter? Does somebody need to know?" — not to add "another dashboard full of graphs."
Built-in GPS keeps trusted contacts informed of the wearer's location and movements. A double press lets them check in without a call or text, while built-in LTE — with data service included, so no separate carrier plan is needed — sends help requests with voice, location, battery level, and health data attached.
The signal: The company targets family caregivers, independent older adults, and health-conscious adults. Unlike rival screenless wearables built around individual fitness, Link positions itself around everyday health and family connection — a bet that the caregiving load, not step counts, is the next wearable frontier.
Read more: TechCrunch
Image credit: Luffu
