February 5, 2021
Startups at the forefront of the on-demand, at-home fitness craze
VCs make big bets on innovators, such as Tonal, ClassPass, Peerfit, Freeletics, Silofit, and FORTË
According to the CDC, only one in four US adults and only one in five high school students meet the recommended physical activity guidelines. There are also roughly 31 million adults aged 50 or older who are inactive, meaning they get no physical activity beyond that of daily living. Some one in five adolescents are obese, making them the most obese generation ever.
The reasons that people give for not working out include a lack of time and a lack of motivation, as well as feeling too old. Others some say they don't have the right equipment, it's too expensive, and that the gym is too far away.
At least some of those excuses are now being addressed by the rise of digital fitness apps, which not only allow people to work out in the comfort of their own home (something people have been able to do for decades) but to do it in a personalized way while also incorporating live video and social. No longer is it a choice between going to work out in a public place, or at home all by yourself; now people can have a hybrid of both.
Here's a look at the top 15-20 companies using these new technologies to help get people in shape.
"Forget plates, barbells, and bands. Tonal uses revolutionary dynamic weight that adjusts to your every move, delivering personalized workouts to help you be your strongest self."
Founded: 2015
Total raised: $450 million
VCs: Larry Fitzgerald, Mike Tyson, Cobalt Capital, Sappire, Drew Brees, L Catteron, Maria Sharapova, Sue Bird, Dragoneer Investment Group, Sapphire Sport, Delta-v Capital, Evolution Media, Transformational Healthcare, Mayfield Fund, Mousse Partners, Bobby Wagner, Stephen Curry, Rudy Gay, Next Play Capital, Shasta Ventures, Amazon Alexa Fund, Michelle Wie, Paul George, Serena Ventures, Transform VC, Bolt, WISE Ventures, TechNexus Venture Collaborative, Tim Kendall, Firebolt Ventures, Rick Marini, Upside Partnership
"Find your zen, feel the burn and get your heart pumping with a new fitness workout routine — at home. ClassPass has over 4,000 free on-demand online workouts in HIIT & strength training, cardio, yoga, barre and more, so you can get moving from the comfort of your living room."
Founded: 2011
Total raised: $542.9 million
VCs: Techstars, SV Angel, Right Side Capital Management, General Catalyst, GV, CRV, BoxGroup, Slow Ventures, Acequia Capital, Temasek Holdings, Thrive Capital, Techstars New York City Accelerator, Charlie Songhurst, Scott Banister, BAM Ventures, Moonshots Capital, L Catterton, Brainchild Holdings, Cyan Banister, Fifth Wall, David Tisch, Eastward Capital Partners, M13, Romulus Capital, Nelstone Ventures, Fritz Lanman, Kal Vepuri, Owen Van Natta, WME, Hank Vigil, Vivi Nevo, True Capital Management, Gordon Crawford, Miroma Ventures, Shana Fisher, Beehive Holdings, Apax Digital, Blake Krikorian, Expanding Capital, Emergent Ventures, Springboard Growth Capital, Blazer Ventures, Grace Stanat, Noah Kraft, Keith Nowak
"The only home gym with a built-in personal trainer"
Founded: 2015
Total raised: $298.8 million
VCs: Bling Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, SoftBank Vision Fund, General Catalyst, Steadfast Capital, DCM Ventures, SignalFire, Y Combinator, Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, Bradley Horowitz
"Shop our range of sleep fitness products that boost your recovery through personalized bed temperature, health monitoring, and digital sleep coaching."
Founded: 2014
Total raised: $162.1 million
VCs: Y Combinator, General Catalyst, Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, FundersClub, Jason Calacanis, Comcast Ventures, Gaingels, StartX (Stanford-StartX Fund), AltaIR Capital, Sinovation Ventures, 8VC, SoftBank, Naval Ravikant, Craft Ventures, Azure Capital Partners, Cota Capital, Scott Belsky, Yunqi Partners, CRCM Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, SGH CAPITAL, Evolution VC Partners, Stanford University, Kevin Hartz, Vast Ventures, Sway Ventures, Upslope Ventures, SB Opportunity Fund, Sterling.VC, Ryan Petersen, TIA Ventures, Jaws Ventures, Ruvento, Kal Vepuri, Atreides Management, Ankur Nagpal, Kyle Vogt, Fred Ehrsam, Globivest, Anthony Pompliano, Rahul Vohra, Sahil Lavingia, Karim Atiyeh, NKM Capital, Alex Rodriguez, Fresh VC, Matthew Dellavedova, Todd Goldberg, Austen Allred, Austin Rief, Sophia Amoruso, Marcy Simon, Geoffrey Woo, Dan Romero, Babak Nivi, Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Avlok Kohli, Kris Bryant, Ludwig Pettersson, Daniel Andre Sturridge, J.D. Martinez, James Murphy, Jeff Mroz, Eric Siu
"This is more than a mirror. It’s the ultimate home gym. With the most workout variety. That actually looks good in your home."
Founded: 2016
Total raised: $74.8 million
VCs: Kevin Huvane, LionTree, Lululemon, Spark Capital, Karlie Kloss, Point72 Ventures, Steve Lockshin, Lerer Hippeau, Primary Venture Partners, BoxGroup, Brainchild Holdings, First Round Capital
"Define your own goals and work towards them from anywhere, at any time, however you’d like... AI-powered fitness and nutrition coaching to help you become the best version of yourself."
Founded: 2013
Total raised: $70 million
VCs: KKCG, JAZZ Venture Partners, Causeway Media Partners, FITLAB, GoldenArc Capital, ward.ventures, Cava Capital, True Capital Management, Courtside Ventures, Elysian Park Ventures, 49ers Enterprises
"Hydrow is the Live Outdoor Reality (LOR)™ rower, created with inclusivity in mind – for anyone, at any level of fitness. Hydrow brings the outdoors into your home with immersive, full-body live and on-demand workouts."
Founded: 2017
Total raised: $65.8 million
VCs: Kevin Hart, Travis Kelce, Whitney Cummings, Melissa Jefferson, Justin Timberlake, Fabletics, Aaron Rodgets, Wheelhouse 360, Winklevoss Capital. Castor Ventures, L Catterton, Rx3 Growth Partners, Almanack Family Office, Alumni Ventures, Raptor Group, Blue Ivy Ventures, P. Andrews McLane, Richard M. Cashin
"A wellness benefit your team will actually use and love. Give your employees a flexible fitness solution that's easy to use, easy to manage, and easy to enjoy."
Founded: 2011
Total raised: $48.6 million
VCs: Florida Funders, Virgo Investment Group, Jenn Venik, Ark Applications, Virgo Investment Group, Engage, Wyc Grousbeck, PAR, Causeway Media Partners, Lee Arnold, Adam Okun, Craig Hasday, Chris Sullivan, Joseph Hodges, Rich Gallun, Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research
Vi Labs
"Vi Trainer delivers on-demand running workouts that are fun, effective, and adapt to you in real-time while you work out. Vi also hosts community races where you can compete against others like you around the world in real-time. Running has never been this fun."
Founded: 2011
Total raised: $38.7 million
VCs: Joy Ventures, Cerca Partners, FGI Capital Partners, Wellborn Ventures, Silvertech Ventures, New Era Ventures, Triventures, Square Peg Capital, World Trade Ventures, Cerca Partners, Roy Oron, Cubit Investments
"Unlimited access to the world’s best workouts from celebrity trainers"
Founded: 2019
Total raised: $30 million
VCs: Delta-v Capital, Telstra Ventures, Accel, Crosscut Ventures, Maverick Ventures, MANTIS Venture Capital, Second Avenue Partners, Andreas Penna, West Quad Ventures
"Liteboxer brings boxing training home with cutting-edge simulators that sync with your favorite music, adapt to your goals, track your progress, and keep you motivated."
Founded: 2017
Total raised: $26 million
VCs: Will Ventures, Raptor Group, B. Riley Financial, Nimble Ventures, Timothy Mosley
"Transforming spaces into sleek private gyms that are clean, safe and available on-demand."
Founded: 2017
Total raised: $18.9 million
VCs: Fitt, Whitecap Venture Partners, Courtside Ventures, David Grutman, Alate Partners, Silicon Valley Bank, Ndamukong Suh
"Fittr provides a safe and judgement free platform where you can learn, transform, inspire and explore career opportunities in fitness!"
Founded: 2015
Total raised: $13.5 million
VCs: Surge, Elysian Park Ventures, Dream Capital, Suniel Shetty
RunKeeper
"The ASICS Runkeeper™ app has the tools you need to become a stronger runner. Insights, workouts, and trainer guidance will get you to your goals. Let’s run together."
Founded: 2008
Total raised: $11.5 million
VCs: Spark Capital, Revolution Ventures, Boston Seed Capital, LaunchCapital, O'reilly AlphaTech Ventures, Will Herman, Don McLagan, Dave Balter
"FORTË has developed the only end-to-end live and on-demand streaming solution on the market, enabling you to create high-quality yet cost effective digital content"
Founded: 2015
Total raised: $10.9 million
VCs: Mindshift Capital, Golden Seeds Venture Fund, Flucas Ventures, SeventySiz Capital, Cito Ventures, 500 Startups, Katie Shea, NON-fungible Chan
VirtuaGym
"We build industry-leading technology solutions, which empowers businesses, health professionals and consumers to create sustainable lifestyle change"
Founded: 2008
Total raised: $10.2 million
VCs: Endeit Capital, Saffelberg Investments, SanomaVentures
Fitplan
"Choose from dozens of programs designed by your favorite trainers. Work out at the gym, at home, or anywhere life takes you."
Founded: 2014
Total raised: $9.9 million
VCs: Tech Coast Angels, Imaginary Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Bullpen Capital, A-Rod Corp, Mark Mastrov, Advancit Capital, Corazon Capital
"Moxie is the only fitness platform that provides consumers with direct connection to thousands of fitness coaches who are ready to help you achieve your wellness goals."
Founded: 2020
Total raised: $8.4 million
VCs: Resolute Ventures, Bessemer Ventures, Greycroft Ventures, Gokul Rajaram, Bruce Bell, Manik Gupta, Jay Parikh, Mark Kingdon, Miami Angels, 500 Startups, Burst Capital, Taurus Ventures, Gokul Rajaram, Quixotic Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Howard Morgan, Interplay Ventures, Gaingels, Zoom, Bob Zipp, Allen Morgan, Nishith Shah, Vectr, Grady Burnett, overtime.vc, Eddie Lou, Jason Goldberg, David Bohnett
"Improve your Balance, Strength, & Mobility from home with Bold’s online, easy-to-follow exercise programs."
Founded: 2020
Total raised: $7 million
VCs: GingerBread Capital, Maveron, Khosla Ventures, Primetime Partners, Andreessen Horowitz
Wellbeats
"Wellbeats gives people of every age, interest, body type, and ability level the same opportunity – to live a healthier life. Members can access virtual fitness, nutrition, and mindfulness classes from wherever they feel comfortable."
Founded: 2008
Total raised: $4.1 million
VCs: LFE Capital
Fitocracy
"Let Fitocracy help you conquer this year. Track workouts, build support, challenge yourself and your friends, all with the help of our expert coaches."
Founded: 2010
Total raised: $2.2 million
VCs: Social Starts, John Romaniello, Zachary Aarons, Vikas Taneja, Ryan Melohn, Mike Serafin, Joseph Fasone,, Benjamin Ling, Paul Singh, Gerald G. Hatch, Joseph Melohn, Romulus Capital, Michael Maza, Michael Sheng, Klye Eklund, Jay Gould, Lawrence Chu, Eric Cressey, 500 Startups, OCA Ventures, Eniac Ventures, Eric Cantor, Neil Chheda, Greak Oaks Venture Capital, Expansion Venture Capital
(Image source: verywellfit.com)
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