James Park Popularized Wearable Technology
By Kelli Luu | 27 Jan, 2026

James Park's Fitbit gave the world daily health tracking and shaped the modern wearables technology.

Health and wellness has been a consistent trend since the late 2000s and for years people have been tracking their steps aiming to hit 10,000 steps a day. Long before we had smartphone apps and Apple watches to track our movement, there was Fitbit, a device co-founded by Korean-American, James Park. 

Park’s parents emigrated from South Korea to Cleveland, Ohio where he grew up and attended an all boys high school, while helping his family run their many businesses. As owners of an ice cream parlor, wig shop, fish market, and more, Park’s parents set an evident example of what a strong work ethic looked like. 

After high school, Park attended Harvard College to study computer science, but dropped out during his junior year to open his own business, a startup B2B infrastructure software firm called Epesi Technologies. Although this company is no longer operating, Park has described this experience as one of his “greatest failures”. During this time he met his good friend and co-founder of Fitbit, Eric Friedman and once Epesi closed down, the two of them began working as engineers for Dun & Bradstreet. 

In 2007 Park and Friedman founded Fitbit after identifying the potential of the sensors on a Wii remote control. Their goal was to give consumers real-time access to their personal health data. This was when wearable technology was barely even a thing and the two founders struggled to find investors until they were able to finally get additional funding from SoftTech VC and True Ventures. 

With the proper investments, Fitbit launched their first product in 2009 which was a small clip-on device that could track movement and sleep patterns designed for everyone. This niche health tracking device quickly became a mainstream habit and under Park’s leadership as CEO, Fitbit expanded the line with wrist trackers that measured steps, heart rate monitoring, and sleep quality. 

Park led Fitbit through its initial public offering in 2015 solidifying a strong place in health technology. For years, Fitbit was one of the most well known brands in wearable tech and paved a new way for competitors in the industry. In 2021 Fitbit was sold to Google for $2.1 billion and Park served as VP and General Manager of Fitbit within Google. 

Fitbit helped normalize the idea that people should pay attention to their health and gave consumers a simple way to engage with their own wellness. Park left the company in 2024, but his influence in wearable health technology will remain historic.