Of pandemonium and resilience: How Cure.fit survived the COVID-19 pandemic
“Due to Covid-19 and the changing culture, there is a demand for effective methods of working out without having to spend thousands of dollars on equipment or leaving the house. We offer a positive experience for anyone looking to work out, cook, or meditate,” said Cure.fit co-founder Mukesh Bansal.
Amidst the horrors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, people have seemingly developed an acute awareness of their health and are actively striving to put in place good health practices. Cult.fit, with its workout plans and healthy food recipes, is an integrative health app that aims to cover several facets of health.
The company was founded in 2016 by Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori and aims to promote preventative healthcare amongst its user base.
Beginning
The pair that founded Cure.fit initially met as co-workers at Flipkart. After leaving the company, the two zeroed in on the health and fitness industry and planned their entry into the space with an idea to create an integrated health platform- which developed into Cure.fit.
Today, the startup now has four product offerings under its platform, namely, Cult.fit (chain of fitness centers), Eat.fit (health food delivery service), Mind.fit (provider of mental health and wellness services), and Care.fit (services in primary healthcare).
Having built their business steadily over the past half decade, the company was-unfortunately- greatly impacted by the pandemic.
Post-pandemic pandemonium
Cure.fit entered the news cycle recently for admittedly unsavory reasons. It was alleged that several company employees were forced to resign after the pandemic hit. Furthermore, media reports stated that the severance packages offered were just worth Rs. 2 crore whilst the startup had announced a donation of Rs. 5 crore for the PM Cares Fund.
These claims were refuted by Mukesh, who stated, “There has been a lot of misinformation. The fact is we have laid off about 300 trainers, mostly access staff, who were hired for future extension and from smaller towns — which is five percent of our business. Close to 90 percent of our trainers are still with Cureft. We are, in fact, committed to keeping them on the payroll for the foreseeable future while we ride off this crisis. We are also supporting them in all ways possible. While there is a change in their compensation models, it has been done to ensure that we are well set to ride this crisis out in the long term.“
He later added, “We have set aside Rs 25 crore — this is the compensation we will be paying without any revenue for the next seven to eight months.”
Surviving the storm
In terms of staying afloat during the pandemic-caused halt in revenue, the company moved operations online. They reportedly conducted about 4000 personal sessions online daily during the course of the pandemic. The digitisation process also allowed the company to reach Tier II and III areas better than ever before.
With lockdown restrictions easing, the company also began phasing open its in person gyms as well.
“The success of the pivot made us take an omnichannel approach, so we will continue to operate both online and offline. We’ll grow the physical presence in tandem with the demand for it while online presence will continue to rise,” said Cure.fit head of technology Shamik Sharma.
The pandemic has undoubtedly impacted the health and wellness industry in a myriad of ways. With pandemic restrictions gradually loosening, it will be interesting to understand how individuals navigate the health and wellness space in a post-pandemic world.
Also Read
Follow Startup Story
Related Posts
