FITPASS raises $1M from Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra

On Thursday, FITPASS, a provider of access passes to gyms and fitness studios, announced that it had raised $1 million in a round led by Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra and his business partner Gaurav Marya, Chairman, Franchise India.

According to a press statement, the new funds invested through Bindra’s venture fund—Shooting Star and Franchise India Brands Ltd—will be used to expand the full suite of FITPASS’ service offerings across 10 cities in the next six months.

Just last December, Delhi-based FITPASS had raised $1 million from Mumbai Angels and a consortium of Delhi- and Bengaluru-based angel investors to grow horizontally and add service verticals. This included data-driven personalised fitness management tools for its users and enterprise products for its partner gyms/fitness studios.

The brainchild of Akshay Verma and his sister Arushi Verma (26), Fitpass started with 65 partners in September 2015. Available on iOS and Android, FITPASS allows subscribers to work out at any gym or fitness studio, anytime, from a variety of available workout options—gym workouts, yoga, Zumba, Pilates, spinning, kickboxing, CrossFit, and MMA.

In addition, the app also allows users to consult their dedicated personal nutritionist and follow highly curated AI-led coaching plans on the FITPASS app to achieve faster results.

About the announcement, Arushi, Co-founder, FITPASS, said,

“We are very excited to have Abhinav and Gaurav as our partners. Learnings from their personal and professional journeys and access to the networks they command will certainly help us take the FITPASS brand to greater heights.”

Akshay, Co-founder, FITPASS, added,

“Our tech-first approach has helped us achieve astounding growth rates without burning our funds. The focus has been on data-driven operations and using tech-led solutions to limit human intervention. The latest infusion of capital will allow us to significantly enhance the user experience and digitise the fitness economy.”

Aligned to the vision of making fitness affordable and accessible, Abhinav said,

“I used FITPASS for a few months before investing in it, and it is one of the promising ventures in the Indian fitness domain. Arushi and Akshay’s passion, the company’s continued growth, and their holistic approach to fitness have been influencing factors in my decision to invest in them. I am eagerly looking forward to working with the FITPASS team.”

Last December, it was reported that FITPASS had a team of close to 22 members, of which 13 were engaged in technology. Further, around that time, the firm had close to 1,250 gyms and fitness studios in Delhi-NCR, providing a monthly membership plan of Rs 999, giving users access to all its partner gyms and fitness studios.

In December, the company also claimed to have acquired 50,000 users over the past two years.

The industry

According to reports, the total retail market for fitness as a category is valued at Rs 4,579 crore, growing at 16–18 percent and estimated to cross Rs 7,000 crore by the end of 2017. Moreover, modern retail is estimated at 28 percent of this total market and is expected to grow by 22–27 percent. And as disposable income among Indians grows, fitness centres are only burgeoning.

Playnlive, Fitternity, and GymPik, among others, are some of the Indian startups growing in the fitness vertical.

Just yesterday, fitness centre discovery platform FiTraQ raised an undisclosed amount in bridge funding.