Tata Group In Talks To Acquire Curefit: Report Mukesh Bansal's Curefit has been gasping for air since the beginning of the pandemic last year, with most of its gyms forced to shut
By Debarghya Sil •
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Tata Groups is in talks to acquire health fitness startup Curefit. According to a The Economic Times report, Tata group plans to onboard Curefit founder Mukhesh Bansal and might hand over a lead role at Tata Digital.
Bansal founded Myntra earlier, an e-commerce place for clothes and accessories which was sold for $330 million to Flipkart in 2014. Bansal who later worked closely with Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal ended up founding another venture in the fitness sector with Ankit Nagori, a senior executive in Flipkart, called Curefit. The brand has recently rechristened its name to Cult.fit.
Bansal's Curefit has been gasping for air since the beginning of the pandemic last year, with most of its gyms forced to shut. Even during the unlock phase, people were skeptical about visiting gyms. Another business, Eat.fit, shut many of its cloud kitchens. Even when things started looking better early this year, a second wave wreaked havoc on the startup.
If this deal turns out to be true, Tata Digital, the digital subsidiary of Tata group's with ambitions to provide India's first super app, will be a step closer to reality. Tata Digital's acquiring majority stake in one of the leading e-grocery delivery platforms BigBasket, has sent a clear warning to its competitors such as Amazon, Reliance and Flipkart, that it is going all the way. As per media reports, Tata group has increased the funds allocation from INR 1,000 crore to INR 11,000 crore for Tata Digital, showing a clear indication that the Tata group is trying to gain an edge against its competitor.
Tata Digital has also acquired a majority stake in 1Mg, another key player in the pharmaceutical and telemedicine sector, further emboldening Tata Digital's goal.
Amazon in India last month back through Amazon Technologies acquired Bengaluru-based Perpule , a digital retail platform in an all-cash deal of nearly INR 110 crore. Last year, Amazon also forayed into the online medicine segment and launched Amazon Pharmacy. At the sane time, Mukesh Amabani-led Reliance Industries Limited through its Reliance Retail Venture Limited (RRVL) has acquired majority stake in Urban ladder, Future Group's retail business, and Netmeds.
