Cult.fit Now Master Franchise Partner For Gold's Gym Cult.fit has picked majority stake in Gold's Gym's parent
By Saptak Bardhan •
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Health and wellness platform Cult.fit on Monday announced it has picked up a majority stake in F2 Fun & Fitness India Pvt. Ltd, thereby becoming the master franchise partner for Gold's Gym in India. This investment by Cult.fit will be instrumental in reinforcing the company's strong commitment to building the largest fitness and wellness ecosystem in India.
"Our transaction with Gold's Gym in India comes at a critical juncture for the fitness ecosystem which is just gearing up for recovery following the pandemic. This acquisition greatly reinforces Cult.fit's leadership position in the Indian fitness space. It also provides stronger impetus to our growth going into 2023, and enables us to seriously think about going public," said Bishnu Hazari, Chief Financial Officer, Cult.fit
The fitness startups have left their mark on the fitness industry which recorded a massive downfall during the pandemic due to the gyms and fitness centers all being shut. According to a new study by researchers at the University of Southern California published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental medicine, the work from home model negatively impacts the mental as well as physical health of an individual. Cult.fit is one of the biggest fitness services providers in India focusing on high-quality and differentiated customer experiences in fitness and wellness.
"With this partnership, we can now leverage Cult.fit's strong technology, operations and demand generation capabilities to further empower and enable our high-quality supply to scale. We see this partnership as a great win-win for our passionate franchise partners, enabling faster recovery out of the pandemic and being their partner in growth for the long run. This also allows us to give our loyal customers access to the best of fitness services across the country," said Nikhil Kakkar, Chief Operating Officer, Gold's Gym.
With more than 140 outlets in 90-plus cities, Gold's Gym, like Cult.fit, is an immensely popular fitness chain enjoying high brand recall. It also has proven success across metros, as well as tier I, II and III markets, along with multiple long-term franchise partnerships. As part of this strategic partnership, Cult.fit will be investing in scaling the revenue of existing Gold's Gym centers through marketing endeavors. Cult.fit will also be enabling all the Gold's Gym centres with its suite and customer app. Cult.fit with this partnership will also look to expand the Gold's Gym brand across key geographies such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal & Bhutan. Cult.fit recently acquired RPM fitness, Fitkit, Onefitplus, and Urban Terrain. Cult.fit also recently completed a USD 150Mn Series F fundraise and entered the 'unicorn club'.
