Exclusive: Online fitness platform Fitternity raises $2 mn

Mumbai-based online fitness discovery platform Fitternity Health E-solution Pvt. Ltd has raised over $2 million (Rs 13 crore) from existing and new investors, the company said.

Besides existing investors Saha Fund and Exfinity Venture Partners, the round also saw the participation of marquee angel investors Arihant Patni of Patni Family Office, former TPG Partner Anjali Bansal, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas managing director Akshay Chudasma, former Lupin group president Satish Khanna and the Taparia family office.

The capital infusion, according to the company, is part of a larger institutional funding round. The company will be raising additional capital later this year to expand its footprint in new geographies, the company said in a press statement.

“We are continuing to focus on creating value-impacting offerings for consumers that sit on top of the robust marketplace we have built. Funds will be utilised for launching those along with strengthening operations in the six cities we are present in,” said Neha Motwani, co-founder, Fitternity.

“Preventive healthcare is a critical space in India and Fitternity is transforming it by enabling Indians to start and sustain their fitness journey. I see immense value in the integrated marketplace models and services sitting on top of this ecosystem,” said Arihant Patni.

In 2015, the company had raised its seed round from Exfinity Venture Partners and Saha Fund, among others.

In August 2016, it had received commitment to raise fresh investment from Saha Fund, Exfinity Venture Partners and a couple of other angel investors from the Silicon Valley.

Fitternity Health E-solution, which owns fitness discovery portal fitternity.com, was founded in 2013 by Neha and Jayam Vora.

A management student from Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics, Neha had earlier worked as a consultant at Aon Hewitt, the global talent, retirement and health solutions business of Aon Plc, before starting her own venture.

Fitternity has built a tech-enabled marketplace-cum-subscription platform, which allows users to purchase sessions or memberships of different fitness programmes, including gym sessions, yoga and Zumba classes, besides hiring personal trainers. It also allows users to take trial classes of various programmes. The company claims to have been clocking annual sales of over $5 million for the last two fiscal years.

Users can book across the ‘Fitternity assured’ network of over 4,000-plus service providers, besides availing Fitternity subscriptions to achieve their goals. Fitness services in India is a $4-billion opportunity.

Exfinity Venture Partners
Exfinity is a technology-focussed VC firm. It invests in technology-led product startups through the Rs 125-crore Exfinity Technology Fund-Series I. The firm is led by IT industry bigwigs V Balakrishnan, Mohandas Pai, Deepak Ghaisas and Girish Paranjpe.

Last October, it had invested $2 million in GridRaster Inc., which provides virtual reality and augmented reality experiences on mobile devices.

In April 2017, it had led a $1.23-million pre-Series A round in Bengaluru-based artificial intelligence and VR technology startup Absentia Virtual Reality Pvt. Ltd.

It had also backed B2B marketing automation firm MarianaIQ, Chennai-based computer vision and artificial intelligence company Mad Street Den, and logistics management platform Locus.

Arihant Patni and Amit Patni are the sons of Gajendra Patni, the eldest of the three Patni brothers, who had founded Patni Computers, and later sold it to Nasdaq-listed iGate Technologies for $1.5 billion in January 2011. Almost six months later, Arihant and Amit floated Nirvana Venture Advisors, a venture capital fund focused on internet startups.

Fitness deals
Last September, Locobuddy Mobile Technology Pvt. Ltd, which runs sports and fitness discovery portal Sportobuddy, had raised $1.5 million in a seed round from former IPL team owner Mehul Shah.

In July 2017, Gympik.com, an online marketplace for discovering fitness centres and gyms, has secured a second tranche of funding from existing investor RoundGlass Partners.

In January last year, Delhi-based Metano Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which owns and operates fitness app Fitnapp, had raised pre-Series A capital from Noida-based realty developer SD Group.

In December 2016, Delhi-based Fitpass Business Ventures Pvt. Ltd, which operates online fitness marketplace Fitpass, had secured $1 million in a seed round from Mumbai Angels and a clutch of angel investors from Delhi and Bengaluru.