Investment in the Sport Fitness Space Exploding with No End in Sight
Our Take from Sources: Eric Fisher, Sport Business, Torrey Hart, Front Office Sports and others:
A series of star pro athletes have joined the latest $110m round of venture capital funding for Tonal, the California-based developer of the popular strength and personal training platform. National Basketball Association stars Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and Paul George of the Los Angeles Clippers, along with pro golfer Michelle Wie, have joined the Series D round of funding for Tonal, which produces a personalized, wall-mounted workout machine providing resistance through a proprietary combination of electromagnetic and digital technology. The core Tonal system carries a list price of $2,995, and competes with several other digitally oriented fitness platforms such as Peloton. The size of the athletes’ individual investments were not disclosed, and the new company valuation wasn’t either. But Tonal intends to use the new round of funds to further scale the company and accelerate specific components such as marketing, production, and supply chain management. - SportBusiness
At-home fitness company Tonal continued a big week in fitness as it announced a $110 million investment round. Tonal is a wall-mounted platform that personalizes digital weight workouts and costs $2,995. The investment round was led by returning investor L Catterton — an early Peloton backer. Also included were NBA players Steph Curry, Paul George and Rudy Gay; NFL players Kyle Rudolph and Bobby Wagner; and golfer Michelle Wie. Previous athlete investors include Serena Williams and Tony Gonzalez. Controlling more than 95% of the “connected strength training” market share, Tonal will use the new round to “accelerate marketing initiatives and scale up its supply chain” as demand for the platform — and connected fitness in general — continues to surge. The company said they have 12 times more sales compared to 2019. - Front Office Sports
Workout Wrap-Up:
9/10 — Peloton reported a fourth-quarter sales jump of 172% year-over-year and a 210% increase in online subscriptions.
9/14 — Gym chain Town Sports International filed for bankruptcy.
9/15 — Apple Fitness+ was announced in a move Peloton CEO John Foley said legitimized fitness content. Another gym chain, Flywheel Sports, filed for bankruptcy.
9/16 — Online fitness platform Zwift announced a $450 million round of fundraising.