Capacity building: Fittr working to make 50 million people fit

Since 2020, the fitness community has evolved with more prominent and robust systems, observant users as well as massive momentum from government initiatives like the Fit India Movement. “Due to the pandemic, online fitness industry witnessed a huge surge which also brought in a demand of customised, personalised and doorstep services,” says Jitendra Chouskey, founder and CEO, Fittr, a Pune-based fitness and wellness company. “In 2020, people were still figuring out their likes, dislikes, gadgets, in-door/outdoor workout, 2021 was a year of overall technology disruptions in this space. People moved to a hybrid model, took up new challenges, explored a lot more routines and regimes.”

According to Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2021, online fitness training has been the top trend and it will continue to see this surge. “As we step into the new year, the industry is bringing easy-to-use, AI-led technology which will be the buzzword making sure consumers have everything readily available,” says Chouksey. Also, basis a report by Redseer Consulting, the Indian fitness industry is expected to touch the $32-billion mark by 2022 and grow at an annual rate of 27%. “This is a testimony to the potential the fitness industry holds, giving us confidence to do more for the consumers,” he says.

According to Chouksey, it is important to stay relevant in the industry and with the ever-evolving fitness segment, it is essential to look for relevant and new offerings to keep users engaged and inspired. “As we have recently observed, sports nutrition and fitness are being promoted and talked about; Fittr is launching a new category ‘sports fitness’ to its existing set of services which include personal training and fitness and lifestyle.”

This endeavour has been possible due to Fittr’s recent investment of $11.5 million in Series A funding round co-led by Dream Capital and Elysian Park Ventures. “Fittr has always been committed to democratising fitness, and raising awareness around physical, mental, and emotional well-being. The investment raised will assist us to make strategic headways in achieving this goal,” he informs. In the past three years, the company has seen an exponential rise as for FY19 to FY20, Fittr saw ~22% growth whereas for FY20 to FY21 the group saw a whooping ~80% growth.

Fittr’s aim is to enter the list of startup unicorns and become the leading global social platform and marketplace for fitness coaching by educating and inspiring people to get fit, says Chouksey.

Along with strengthening the core services further, Fittr wants to create employment for over 1,000 coaches in the next 12-18 months.

“As a long-term goal, we are working to make 50 million people fit and create 100,000 meaningful career opportunities in the fitness industry. As a first step, we have started an initiative called Fittr Street wherein our coaches are engaging with consumers on the streets of various cities across the country educating them about Fittr,” says the company CEO. “Regarding our flagship fitness initiative called ‘Transformation Challenge’, for the year 2022, we are planning to add in some interesting activities to the challenges and rope in like-minded brands and fitness enthusiasts who can relate to the masses and help us achieve the goal of staying fit and active.