The company behind Centr, the fitness, mental health, nutrition and lifestyle app created by Chris Hemsworth, and his coach, Luke Zocchi, has signalled it will launch a line of fitness equipment to complement its digital product, meaning Centr will then exist as a "physical and digital offering".
Both home and commercial fitness equipment will be produced, as well as a line for athletes.
The move has been on the cards since Centr was bought by HighPost Capital – run by Mark Bezos, brother of Jeff – in March 2022.
HighPost also snapped up Inspire Fitness – founded in 2003 – and its holding company, Health in Motion LLC, to flesh out its health and fitness offering, hiring Andrew Sugerman (formerly at Walt Disney Co) as CEO in September 2022, to oversee the integration of Centr and Inspire Fitness and the launch of a raft of new products and services.
Centr had originally been launched in February 2019 after a two-year development programme during which Hemsworth and his team worked with fit tech business Loup to create the app.
Fitness and Lifestyle Group (FLG), the Australasian health club operator, led by Greg Oliver had acquired Loup in 2015, ending up with 50 per cent of Centr which it sold on to HighPost.
Centr integrations to date have included the launch of Inspire Fitness Studios to serve as a "studio for the community", as well as a production facility where workouts are recorded, before being streamed via the Centr app to create a digital at-home experience.
Speaking to Athletech News (AN), Sugarman says Centr is taking the 'next step' on its journey to becoming an 'all-in-one ecosystem' for health and wellness and an integrated digital and physical solution.
"In the coming weeks, Centr will be rolling out an entirely new line of consumer goods and fitness products that will be available at almost every major retailer in the United States, as well as in select markets around the world," he said. "Effectively, we’ll be relaunching Centr as an ecosystem that combines digital content with physical goods that will be available on a global scale.
"We’ll also be rolling out strength equipment from Inspire Fitness. So there'll be Centr-branded strength machines, functional trainers, workout benches, Olympic weight sets and all the tools you’d need to unlock Centr’s content," Sugarman told AN. "We’re also working on a product line designed for competition-level athletes [that will] be announc[ed] it in the coming months.
"The products we’re launching in 2023 will be for at-home consumer use. In 2024, we’ll look at broader commercial opportunities," he said.
Chris Hemsworth remains a shareholder in Centr and will continue to promote the brand.
For more background on FLG, click here.
For more on Loup, click here and scroll to 'Partnering with the A-Listers'.
