Cult, a Bangalore based fitness startup which offers a “machine-free” fitness regime, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from Mukesh Bansal, founder of Mytra.com and former head of commerce at Flipkart.
With the fresh capital coming to the company, it is now planning to expand its reach and further expand its business beyond Bangalore.
Commenting about this investment, Mukesh Bansal told ET:
This is a unique and interesting idea in the space of fitness. I have personally trained here and realize the potential it has to offer. They are looking to expand within and outside of Bengaluru with the fresh capital.
Bansal’s investment comes weeks after he quit his job at Flipkart to venture into a new entrepreneurial venture of his own. He, along with Ankit Nagori, announced a new venture that is in healthcare and fitness space.
Unlike other fitness startups, Cult is focused on training programmes in which the traditional gym equipment are not required. It offers multiple activities, including martial arts, yoga and outdoor activities that have fitness in their core. It has a boxing ring, jump ropes, boxing bags, tyres/hammer, speed chutes, resistance bands and plyometric boxes.
Founded in May 2015 by Rishabh Telang and Deepak Poduval, the company has a centre in the suburbs of Bengaluru with plans to open a few more in the city before setting foot in other major metros.
Rishabh Telang, founder of the company, said,
We don’t have a single treadmill or any other fancy gym equipment. Instead, we have got certified trainers to provide special attention to every member for the curated exercises at our facility. Mukesh training here and now backing us is a sign of trust in our model.
The company is only offering two types of memberships – Annual and Bi-annual. It charges Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 48,000 for bi-annual and annual membership, respectively.
It has a team of over 9 trainers. With six months of its operations, Cult had over 200 members for its service. In terms of revenue, it is expecting to cross Rs 2.5 crore by FY 2016.
In this space, many startups such as Gympik, Orobind, etc. have raised significant amount of funding. However, Cult doesn’t seem to be directly competing with such startups and is carving out a new niche with its “machine-free” fitness training.
