Bengaluru: Healthcare and fitness start-up CureFit Healthcare Pvt. Ltd has bought Oaktree Capital-backed fitness chain Fitness First to expand its presence in Delhi and enter the lucrative Mumbai market.
The deal, the terms of which were undisclosed, will see Oaktree Capital become a minority shareholder in CureFit, which owns the Cult fitness centres, food brand EatFit and clinics under the CareFit brand. CureFit will retain the Fitness First brand and add 10 fitness centres to bring its overall centre count to 50 fitness outlets. The firm will sell food subscriptions and its products to users of Fitness First. CureFit currently operates in Bengaluru and NCR.
“We see significant synergies in our business models and the combined entity will offer a compelling health and fitness offering to customers across the cities. Fitness First customers will get additional access to all Cult centres and will get superior experience through the CureFit platform which enables holistic health and well being,” CureFit co-founder Mukesh Bansal said.
CureFit co-founder Ankit Nagori said the Fitness First acquisition will bring roughly 10,000 new customers to its platform. With the addition of Fitness First, CureFit now has some 50,000 users in its fitness business, he said.
“Fitness First has some of the most loyal customers in the fitness space. These are people who are really passionate about fitness and have a lot of spending power, so the potential to sell our other products to them is very high. Fitness First will also help us get a foothold in Mumbai and expand presence in NCR,” Nagori said.
Fitness First is the latest acquisition for CureFit, which previously bought boutique fitness brands Cult and The Tribe, yoga chain a1000yoga as well as Bengaluru-based kitchen Kristys Kitchen to launch its food business.
CureFit was founded in 2016 by Bansal, who was co-founder of fashion retailer Myntra, and Nagori, ex-chief business officer at Flipkart. Bansal and Nagori worked closely at Flipkart after the company bought Myntra in 2014.
Mint reported on 20 April that CureFit was in talks to raise $75 million from new and existing investors to expand its fitness and food verticals and enter new businesses. The company has so far raised $55 million in equity and debt from Accel Partners, IDG Ventures, Kalaari Capital, UC-RNT Fund and others.
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