Long before Movably was Movably, co-founder Mark Kapij suffered a severe road cycling accident resulting in a vertebrae fracture. After having recovered good strength and flexibility, he realized that sitting for long periods of time was far less tolerable. It inspired him to search for a solution to avoid the pain and stiffness that would accompany extended sitting. He tried everything; a variety of ergonomic chairs, kneeling chairs, saddle chairs, you name it.  None of them solved the problem.

And it wasn’t just his problem. People who put in a ton of hours a week doing deskwork end up with poor circulation, chronic and lower back pain, and other ailments and diseases caused by sitting.

What does this really mean?

It means that ambition is a detriment to the health of millions of workers.

Was there a way around this paradox?

In 2015, Mark and Andriy Chulyk, both of whom had contributed to building some of Ukraine’s largest IT companies, started a new company which designed, manufactured and sold a range of standing desks. But they soon realized that standing for long periods of time was no better than sitting for long periods of time. 

Their “aha” moment was recognizing that the solution to the problem had nothing to do with sitting or standing. It had to do with movement. But that proved challenging. How can you move and stay focused at the same time? Sit stand desks and treadmills either interrupted work too much, and so called “active chairs” didn’t enable enough movement to provide a real health benefit. 

There had to be a more thoughtful collaboration between moving and staying focused.

While pursuing that goal, they discovered a research paper from 2013 that confirmed their idea about motion. Researchers examined a variety of chairs advertised to promote movement and none lived up to the hype. Their conclusion matched Mark’s and Andriy’s idea exactly. A new definition of dynamic sitting was required "as sitting in which the action is provided by the sitter, while the dynamic mechanism of the chair accommodates that action." 

In 2019, they began developing the Movably smart dynamic chair as a way to offer many postures that are easy to adopt and move through, all while working productively. 

While people were initially skeptical, once they used the chair for as little as a few days, they would realize this was an entirely different approach to working.

An evolution from the chair category of mere comfort and adjustability.

With the support of early fans as investors in 2019, they launched Movably, creating the world’s first smart dynamic chair to solve sitting disease. 

One that helps promote movement in the workplace. And up the corporate ladder.

Or gaming ladder. 

Or whatever ladder you happen to be ascending.