All three Remi devices now connect to the app

On October 22, the three devices Remi members will use arrived: a scale, a blood pressure monitor and a glucometer. Two of them were sending data to the app that same day. The third took a few more days, and not because of anything on our side.

Why Remi comes with devices

Remi is a monthly membership in Mexico for people with diabetes, high blood pressure or weight issues. It's my second company and I'm building it in public.

The membership bundles four things into one monthly fee: an AI companion on WhatsApp, doctors and specialists, medication delivered to your door and connected devices.

The devices are the part people actually touch. They cover the three measurements that match the three conditions Remi focuses on:

• Scale for weight.
• Blood pressure monitor for blood pressure.
• Glucometer for blood sugar.

If a member measures at home and the number doesn't reach the app on its own, everything depends on them writing it down. So the rule was simple: every device has to connect directly to the app.

Where the platform was

By the time the devices arrived, Remi's platform was well along. We had almost all the apps and the whole system built.

What was missing was the physical side. A health app can look perfect on screen and still be useless if the device people use at home can't connect to it.

The manufacturing suppliers sent all three devices for testing.

The day they arrived

On October 22, we connected the scale and the blood pressure monitor directly to the app. Both worked that same day.

The glucometer didn't. To connect it we needed technical specs that only the supplier has. Without them there was nothing to test.

The blocker: the glucometer

It wasn't a mistake on our end. We were waiting for the supplier to send the specs.

On October 23 we were already connecting the glucometer, and we tested it that day. By October 26 all three were working: scale, blood pressure monitor and glucometer, all connected to the app.

Of the three, the glucometer matters most to someone with diabetes, and it was the one that took the longest.

What it let me do

With all three devices connected, Remi's tech side was ready to be tested end to end: a person measures at home and the reading lands in the app.

That shifted the focus. What comes next isn't tech anymore. It's legal and regulatory:

1. Incorporate the company. That's the next step. The type of entity isn't decided yet.
2. The regulatory plan with COFEPRIS, Mexico's health regulator. I already picked a law firm and a regulatory consultancy. Their plan is still pending.
3. Launch in two stages. The goal is to launch in about two months with generics and third-party products. Remi's own brand takes about a year because of the registrations.

Until we have COFEPRIS permits, Remi doesn't sell anything or promise any health outcome. The connected devices are one part of the membership, not a promise.

What I learned

In software, almost everything depends on you. The moment a physical device comes in, part of it depends on someone else: a supplier, a document, a spec sheet.

Two out of three worked on day one because they didn't depend on anyone else. The third waited on a document.

If you're building something with third-party hardware, ask for the technical specs the same day you ask for samples. The device can show up on time and still be no use to you.

Where Remi is now

Remi's plan has five steps: pick the company, architecture, tech and legal, the real structure, and the first members. The first two are done. I'm now on tech and legal, and the tech part is in place.

I share what comes next on the blog, in the log and in the newsletter every Tuesday.