FITPASS raises $1 m from Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra

FITPASS, the all-access pass to gyms and fitness studios, has raised one million dollar, led by professional shooter and India's only individual Olympic gold medalist, Abhinav Bindra and his business partner, Gaurav Marya, Chairman, Franchise India.

The fresh 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.

Previously, in December 2016, FITPASS had raised one million dollars, from Mumbai Angels and a consortium of Delhi and Bengaluru-based angel investors to grow horizontally and add service verticals, data-driven highly personalised fitness management tools for its users as well as to rollout bespoke enterprise products to its partner gyms/fitness studios.

The undisputed leader in the fit-tech category in India, FITPASS is everything you need to get fit and stay fit. Available on iOS and Android, FITPASS breaks all the barriers to fitness by making fitness accessible and affordable for the new-age Indian consumers. FITPASS subscribers can work out at any gym/fitness studio, anytime and can freely choose from a variety of available workout options - Gym Workouts, Yoga, Zumba, Pilates, Spinning, Kickboxing, Crossfit, MMA and many more. In addition, users can also consult their dedicated personal nutritionist and follow highly curated A.I. led coaching plans on the FITPASS app to achieve faster results.

Speaking on the announcement, Arushi Verma, 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 Verma, 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 digitize the fitness economy. It's going to be game-changing!"

A highly decorated global sports celebrity, Abhinav Bindra, is a fitness conscious athlete who is committed to making India fitter. To him fitness has a more holistic meaning and that's what he says attracted him to FITPASS. Aligned to FITPASS' mission to make fitness affordable and accessible, Abhinav said, "I used FITPASS for a few months before investing in it. I became a fan. FITPASS is possibly the most promising venture 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 work with the FITPASS team."

Commenting on the large opportunity, Gaurav Marya, Chairman, Franchise India added, "FITPASS is serving a great need for the Indian consumer. We have worked with several fitness and wellness brands spanning the entire spectrum. FITPASS can change the way the we consume fitness in India. We understand this requires investment, expertise and most of all, patience and will power. We have invested in a solid team that now needs to put its head down and just focus on execution."

The Indian fitness services market is estimated at 16.6 billion dollars per annum by PwC and is the fastest growing services market (25 percent per annum). With 2/3rds of India being under the age of 35 years, the demand for fitness services is growing at an exponential rate driven by a multitude of factors: medical, personal, fashion, self-confidence, image, etc. While disposable income among Indians has grown by 200 percent over the last 5 years, India is now counted amongst the most unfit countries in the world. In fact, one in three Indians is classified as medically unfit or suffering from a preventable lifestyle disease - 430 million Indian suffer from hypertension and blood pressure, more than 182 million suffer from diabetes and over 65 million Indians suffer from obesity. WHO attributes physical inactivity and unhealthy diet as the primary reason for rising lifestyle diseases in India.

-ANI