Cross-platform fit tech business Fiit, has hit a £1 million crowdfunding target in seven days.
Over 1,000 investors have already supported the company’s ambitions on Crowdcube, with more than two weeks to go until the opportunity closes. The fundraise is for a 2.68 per cent share of the business.
The funding will be channelled into developing a range of integrated equipment in partnership with Assault Fitness, as well as new mat classes and a chain of hybrid fitness studios in the US and UK.
The company's aim is to be the market leader in the functional fitness category.
Fiit launched in 2017 as a fitness app with the aim of making exercise a habit for everybody through 'on-demand, original, high-energy workouts'.
Users stream classes on their phones, tablets or TVs, as well as via 20 fitness devices, including Fitbit, MyZone and Samsung Watch. Fiit’s own tracker also enables members to monitor progress.
The company then pivoted into gyms and studios, with an in-gym studio offering which is being trialled by The Gym Group and WIT London.
This next phase of growth, funded by Crowdcube, will see Fiit taking on companies such as Peloton, by offering equipment-based workouts and interactive, connected fitness solutions for home and gym use, along with the development of the hybrid fitness studios.
Fiit has been collaborating with Assault Fitness since 2021, launching its first interactive workout for the Assault bike in January 2022, with active users completing an average of 28 workouts that month.
The company is now developing interactive workouts for a range of other cardio equipment from Assault that will have integrated screens – including treadmills and rowing machines.
By the end of 2022, Fiit also intends to launch this new range of products through Assault’s distribution network that extends across more than 70 countries.
“We're in a position where we’ve not only tested the UK’s first connected gym model with The Gym Group and WIT London, but we’ve also outlined plans to build a range of industry-first, interactive functional fitness experiences,” says CEO, Daniel Shellard.
“We also want to invest back into our members by developing new features, innovating new products and spaces, and even better mat class. And this Crowdcube raise will support us in doing so,” concluded Shellard.
The company's early growth was financed via more traditional means, to the tune of £13m, through investments from JamJar, Connect Ventures, Exor Seeds and Breega. Between 2019 and 2021, in sync with the pandemic and subsequent evolution of the home fitness market, Fiit’s says its membership base grew by 700 per cent and turnover by 800 per cent, although the base numbers for this are not in the public realm.
Fiit was co-founded by fitness enthusiasts CMO Ian McCraig, COO Sammi Adhami and Shellard, who previously raised US$76m (£58m) for AI-driven customer personalisation tool Qubit.
The company’s growth has been driven by deals such as those with Sky, Samsung and Amazon.
To date Fiit’s 100k-strong digital fitness subscribers have accessed over 1m downloads and 8m classes, with new live classes being filmed each day.
The global fitness app market is expected to reach US$15.2bn (£11.6bn) by 2028, up from $5.1bn (£3.9bn) in 2021.
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