FitLab Plans To Open 500 Studios Following $15m Investment

NEWPORT BEACH, United States — US-based fitness company FitLab has revealed plans to open 500 boutique fitness studios following a $15m Series A raise.

In addition to boosting its physical footprint, the funding, which came from a group of investors including Two Styx Capital, CAVA Capital, Snoop Ventures and more, will be used to scale its portfolio of global brands, which includes McGregor FAST, a combat-focused fitness experience by Conor McGregor; XPT, a high-performance training system from Laird Hamilton and Gabby Reece; and Electric, an action sports brand focused on performance apparel and accessories. The company also intends to launch new mass-participation events and develop technologies that bridge the gap between at-home and in-person fitness.

According to FitLab, plans are already underway to launch its first wave of connected fitness studios, combining the power of measurement and technology with an immersive, in-person training experience throughout 2022 — both in the US and internationally. 

Each connected studio will have an integrated at-home offering and event series aimed at providing members with a seamless hybrid fitness experience that reflects the growing need for offerings that enable consumers to train whenever and wherever.

“We saw a failure from the fitness industry to put the needs of members first,” explained Co-founder Brian Kirkbride, when asked about the company’s plans.

“Even before the pandemic, the data showed that the future of fitness is clearly hybrid, and that has only accelerated. Consumers don’t want to look for a world-class, at-home offering, find a studio or gym that they love, and then try to track down a challenge or event to motivate them to train — let alone pay separately for all of them. 

“They’re forced to do that today because that’s how the industry is set up. Until FitLab, nothing was built from the ground up to provide truly holistic, immersive, connected experiences across the fitness continuum.”

To support its plans to grow its presence in both the at-home training and mass-participation events categories, FitLab also revealed that it had recently acquired at-home fitness app Fitplan and Ragnar — the largest overnight running relay series in the world.

This, the company hopes, will add new strengths and capabilities to FitLab’s integrated platform and bolster its omnichannel strategy to better serve its users in more places and across an increasing number of training modalities.