Cure.Fit, the fitness and wellness chain co-founded by Myntra co founder Mukesh Bansal, announced today an expansion into the US. Interestingly though, the expansion comes just weeks after the company announced layoffs in hundreds, an exercise that has created significant controversies since.
The fitness and wellness platform always had the goal of a global expansion, and the huge boost from COVID 19 acted like a propellant. The company decided to shut down ‘Cult’, the crown jewel of its portfolio, as soon as lockdown set in India in late March, as fitness centres and gyms could no longer stay open. Seeing how Cult brought in 60% of the group’s revenues, the move should have been a big hit to Cure.Fit’s business. Instead, the company decided to put everything it had into its online platform, and the move has seemed to fare pretty well.
“This is an exciting time for Cure.fit as our rapid growth will afford millions of new users in the United States the opportunity to enjoy our app during a time when people need it the most,” said Mukesh Bansal, CEO, Cure.fit. “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. Our Energy Meter not only keeps users engaged throughout the entire class, it also gives them a goal to help achieve their desired level of fitness.”
Up until a month ago, the company was conducting 500 thousand sessions every day and had signed up 1.5 million new users with 50,000 paid subscribers. Earlier, Cure.Fit was planning to wait until it had completed 5 years of operation in India before starting expansion into other markets. However, the impact of COVID was so great that the Cure.Fit decided to fast track its timeline, and decided to launch the beta version of the app in the U.S.
Now the company is finally rolling out the app for all U.S. users. While Cure.Fit is offering its services at no charge as of yet, paid subscription plans will make their way to the platform very soon, Bansal says.
U.S. and Cure.Fit is a match made in heaven, for the country is in dire need of a fitness solution. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services claims that more than 75 percent of adults do not meet the guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities and less than five (5) percent of adults participate in 30 minutes of physical activity each day. In fact, only 1 in 3 adults performs the recommended amount of physical activity each week.
While the road ahead of Cure.Fit is a long one, since U.S. already has a lot of big names in the fitness industry, including Nike and Adidas, which have already launched their own subscription services, Cure.Fit believes its vast catalogue of digital services, paired with the properiatery ‘ Energy Meter’ will help it gain the edge over its competitors.
The Energy Meter allows the app to judge the amount of ‘effort’ put into the workout by a participant, which is achieved by letting the app record you with the phone’s front camera. After the session is complete, the app compares the Energy Meter of each participant, assigning them scores based on their performance and declare the leaderboard of the class.
However, while the company is making headway in its online business, the offline side continues to suffer, and led to a second round of layoffs just a few days back. Just two months back, the company had laid off 700 employees, and ET reports that so far, 1400 people have been let go from the company.
