Tempo Launches More Affordable At-Home Fitness Solution

SAN FRANCISCO, United States — Tempo, a smart home gym that uses 3D sensors and A.I. to analyse motion and provide real-time rep counting, form feedback and weight recommendations, has launched a slimmed-down product that lowers its barriers to entry.

Tempo Move, a $395 system that stands at two feet tall and houses 50 pounds of weight plates and dumbbells, connects to the user’s TV and iPhone to guide them through workouts. Like its predecessor the Tempo Studio, it also provides feedback on form and rep targets and tells the user when it’s time to move up to the next level. The system connects to Tempo’s existing selection of live and on-demand classes, however, this requires a further subscription priced at $39 a month.

By scaling back on price and size (the original Tempo system stands at six feet tall and is priced from $2,500 for the starter pack) the company has the potential to reach a wider audience and further leverage the at-home fitness boom.

According to the brand, since the onset of the pandemic, it has seen its sales soar by 1,000% — a growth trajectory that enabled it to secure a further $220 million in new funding earlier this year.

The Series C round, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2*, with participation from new investor Steadfast Capital Ventures and returning investors DCM, General Catalyst, Norwest Venture Partners and Bling Capital, brought the startup’s total funding to date to nearly $300 million.

At the time, Tempo said it planned to allocate the capital towards the continued enhancement of its AI and 3D sensor technology to further expand its cutting-edge, real-time form feedback and personal guidance for users, as well as on vast expansions across its hardware, software and content offerings. Tempo Move is just one of the ways it is fulfilling that vision.

“Tempo was launched on the premise that the most advanced and versatile technology can unlock human potential by redefining the personal training experience,” commented Moawia Eldeeb, Co-Founder and CEO of Tempo, at the time of the investment news.

“Today, our AI uses 3D sensors and is trained on over 5m workouts over 40K hours to give our users the most effective and personalized workouts possible. This new funding allows Tempo to further develop its AI to expand our class categories and content offerings,” he added.

Tempo says it intends to add to the suite of accessories Tempo Move supports later in the year, with barbells and kettlebell classes already in the pipeline. The company is also working on Android support, as the Tempo Move system currently relies exclusively on Apple’s TrueDepth camera tech.

And it’s not the only at-home fitness provider that is expanding its offering. 

Last month Fiit announced it would be introducing what it claims are the world’s first interactive air bike workouts. 

It will team up with Assault Fitness to deliver a fully connected, personalised experience that enables users to connect their air bikes to the Fiit platform. Individuals will be able to track performance and improvements, as well as compete against others.

Mirror, the Lululemon acquired at-home fitness startup, is also bulking up its product line with the launch of Mirror Weights including dumbbells and ankle weights. The products will be able to pair with the interactive workout device to provide real-time rep tracking, form correction and weight recommendations during specific workouts. 

Elsewhere, the LeBron James backed Tonal, recently launched Tonal Live — a new workout format that it hopes will bring together the power of its personalised strength training with an engaging studio experience that fosters community.

“Tonal has always been unique in the way that we’ve approached our workout content with adaptive weights, individualized pacing, and form feedback that are customized to our members in real-time,” explained Aly Orady, Founder and CEO of Tonal. 

“As our community has grown over the past few years, we’ve been encouraged by the organic social engagement, the craving for more interaction with our coaches, and the excitement that comes from reaching new milestones; Tonal Live will allow us to connect these elements through a studio experience while retaining the foundation of what differentiates our workouts: personalisation, guidance and feedback.”

And Liteboxer — a boxing based at-home fitness platform that has quickly risen to popularity since its launch in 2020 — announced the launch of its next-generation product: the Liteboxer Wall Mount. 

Providing the same immersive, sports-fueled workout experience offered by the larger Floor Stand model, the Wall Mount takes up zero floor space and installs similar to a TV mount.

With the future of fitness becoming increasingly hybrid, thanks to consumers becoming more comfortable with working out at home, Liteboxer believes the next step in creating an immersive at-home sports experience will involve breaking down barriers to professional fitness training and lowering the bar to entry of adoption for at-home exercisers.