BalrajBangalore-based Fitness and wellness startup, Cult.fit has announced the acquisition of cardio equipment brands Fitkit, RPM fitness, and Onefitplus, as well as the bicycle company Urban Terrain, in an effort to strengthen its dominance in the fitness D2C space. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
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Mohit Mathur and his team at Shoora Retail set up and scaled these brands, and they have all joined to help the startup grow. These brands offer smart equipment such as exercise bikes, treadmills, and bicycles that connect to smartphones that allow users to monitor their performance, compete with their friends, or walk and run in a virtual game atmosphere.
With Urban Terrain, the startup is also venturing into the outdoor bicycle industry. In addition, Cult.fit will acquire the brand’s bicycle manufacturing expertise as well as its service network, which covers more than 19,000 pin codes in the country.
Commenting on the acquisition, Shamik Sharma, Head of Digital Health at cult.fit in a statement said, “This acquisition enhances our product portfolio of at-home smart exercise equipment. The fitness hardware market is expanding around the world, and we strive to bring the best innovation to our customers.”
Mohit Mathur, founder and CEO of Shoora Retail, added, “We are excited to join hands with Cult. With their captive fitness user base, tech know-how, brand, and capital, we should be able to double our business within the next year. Additionally, given Cult’s unmatched ability to build fitness communities, we can also rapidly grow our bicycles portfolio to emerge as India’s premier tech-led community bicycle brand.”
This is Cult.fit’s second buyout, following the acquisition of Tread, another smart fitness-bike startup. The company currently offers a wide range of solutions at all price points, ranging from Rs 5,000-7,000 for air bikes to Rs 50,000 for premium Cult bikes. The company is also strengthening its manufacturing capabilities, ensuring control over the end-to-end supply chain and therefore higher profitability and margin control.
Cult.fit, which was founded in 2016 by Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori, is gradually has become a one-stop-shop for all fitness and sports equipment. It joined the unicorn club after raising $145 million in a Series F funding round. The company leverages an online-offline model to provide physical fitness, nutrition (Eat.fit), mental fitness (Mind.fit), and a primary care vertical (Care.fit), as well as diabetic care and prevention through an investment in Sugar.fit.
The unicorn now offers a complete range of athletic solutions that include sportswear, footwear, accessories, athleisure, at-home, and outdoor fitness equipment through its portfolio brands Cultsport, Onefitplus, and Tread.