[Funding alert] Fitness startup Fitso raises $1.5M in Pre-Series A from SRI Capital, Pankaj Chaddah, Ashish Gupta

Fitso, a YourStory Tech30 startup from last year, raised $1.5 million from SRI Capital, Zomato Co-founder Pankaj Chaddah, and Helion Ventures founder Ashish Gupta.

The fitness startup plans to use the freshly raised capital to increase its number of indoor all-weather swimming pools, invest in expansion, good talent, and technology to boost its operations.

Fitso is a full-stack sports facilities provider. Its primary product SEALs offers coaching and access to all-weather swimming pools in Delhi-NCR through the year. Recently, the startup was launched in Hyderabad. At present, it has sports programmes for badminton and tennis with plans to launch an all-in-one pass.

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Naman Sharma, Co-founder of Fitso, said the team found a gap in the sports and fitness industry - unorganised and conventional. The startup is making fitness accessible and affordable using technology, and by eliminating the need for a gym membership or expensive equipment.

"We focus on providing a facility to play sports under the guidance of a qualified coach. Fitso has seen families buy a Fitso subscription together. We plan to become the biggest brand name in the sports-oriented fitness segment," said Naman.

According to Redseer, the fitness industry is estimated to be at $12 billion in 2018, projected to increase at 18 percent CAGR to $32 billion by 2022, of which recreational sports contribute up to $20 billion. The report suggests that this growth will be driven by an increase in the number of health-conscious individuals, which is estimated at 90 million in 2018 and is projected to increase to 130 million by 2022.

Pankaj Chaddah, Co-founder of Zomato said, "India as a nation increasingly becoming more health and fitness conscious. We need startups like Fitso to make sports more accessible to people."

Fitso was founded in August 2015 by Saurabh (ex-Flipkart), Naman (ex-Zomato) and Rahool (ex-Yepme, ex-UrbanClap). Having started with swimming as its early product-offering, Fitso claims to have more than 20,000 subscribers in Delhi-NCR. It started as an app to find running and cycling partners.

The startup works as a complete fitness solution provider with its own full-stack technology powering it.

Shweta Singh, Principal Investor at SRI Capital, said, "There is a gap in demand for sports facilities among people of all age groups and supply of good quality facilities. There is a latent demand for a service like Fitso, which takes the hassle away from engaging in sports. Fitso is making sports accessible to all."

(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)

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