Fitness startup Cult.fit shaping up for public listing in 12-18 months

• ByStartupStory     |    October 19, 2022

Cult.fit, a fitness startup, is aiming for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in 12-18 months as its core gym business has turned a profit. Cultfit’s revenue has also increased by more than 50% compared to pre-Covid-19 levels, according to Naresh Krishnaswamy, business head. In FY21, Cult.fit’s operating revenue was around Rs 161 crore.

Bishnu Hazari, the company’s CFO, stated that revenue in FY22 would be in a similar range due to the pandemic. However, the company expects higher revenue in the current fiscal year, with business increasing by 50% over pre-pandemic levels. It was valued at $1.5 billion following a $145 million funding round led by Zomato in December 2021. Cult.fit, formerly Cure.fit, has made 14 acquisitions in the last few years, including in-home fitness equipment companies such as RPM fitness and Fitkit.It acquired a majority stake in F2 Fun & Fitness, becoming Gold’s Gym’s master franchise partner in India. According to the company, the integration with Gold’s Gym is complete, and 40% of gyms are part of the Cultpass loyalty programme.

Cult.fit has resumed operations in non-metro markets after withdrawing during the pandemic. It now operates in approximately 40 cities, up from 25 prior to the pandemic.  Cult.fit has over 600 facilities in total, with the company operating over 200 of them. Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori founded the company, which laid off a significant portion of its workforce during the two main Covid-19 waves and switched to a franchise-owned model for its offline centres.It laid off over 800 employees, or about 10% of its workforce, in May 2020.

“All of the businesses have been integrated into our core business,” CFO of the company said. “They have all added different flavour and capabilities to our overall business. For example, Fiternity kick-started our marketplace business and it was in the business of listing gyms.”

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