Startup Spotlight - Sweat - Fitness App

We all know the health & fitness industry is huge and booming, but just how big can one personal trainer get?

This is an inspiring story of just how big a small town girl from Adelaide took her personal fitness brand to global status.?

Kayla Itsines started initially running personal 1-on-1 training sessions with clients in her parents backyard, and then moved up to group sessions, and then bootcamps, and then a mobile app that now reaches thousands of people each month.

For women who want to get in shape but don't have access to a gym, Sweat is the go-to app since it provides a digital solution that can be used from anywhere. The Sweat app features over 35 distinct programs and over 8,500 on-demand workouts created specifically for women.

These workouts span a wide variety of training modalities, including high intensity, cardio, strength, yoga, Pilates, barre, and post-pregnancy. Sweat is a fitness app that has been translated into eight languages and is accessible in over 145 different countries. It is driven by years of scientific research and the expertise of some of the world's best personal trainers.

Beginnings

When Kayla Itsines and (then partner) Toby Pearce first released their fitness app in 2015, it was called “Sweat with Kayla”. The app provided a digital home for Itsines' widely acclaimed 28-minute High-Intensity routine.

The program started as an eBook, but after Itsines started posting her clients' success stories on Instagram, it became widely recognized as an innovative approach to physical fitness. The app became #1 in the App Store in more than 142 nations within a year of its introduction, all on the simple premise that fitness may help women boost their confidence, health, and quality of life.

In 2017, the app's name was changed to Sweat , and more personal trainers were allowed to join the service, bringing with them a plethora of workout plans. Since then, Sweat has been motivated by its original goal of empowering women through fitness to grow into one of the largest female fitness groups worldwide, with a social following of more than 50 million.

Itsines and Pearce made their debut on the AFR’s Young Rich List in 2018, and have appeared every year since. In 2020, they came in at joint number 27 on the list, with a reported net worth of $209 million each.

During Covid they experienced quite a boom in revenue with members loving access to the app and workouts.

"My experience with the gym and its equipment improved greatly when I started using this app. I have always been active because I was seeking ways to improve my agility and strength. I did stay-at-home BBG for a few weeks while on full lockdown; then, I did PWR for 30 weeks; and now, I'm doing FIERCE. My aspirations of feeling more assured and powerful have been met." -SLF613

The Australian Financial Review recently valued its founders at $486 million for the purposes on the Rich List, which was enough to see them graduate from the Young Rich list to the senior list.

Kayla and Toby are reported to have separated in their personal relationship as of 2020 but continue to work in the business together.

Acquisition

Sweat was acquired by the iFIT family in 2021, joining other top fitness equipment manufacturers including NordicTrack, Weider, Proform, Freemotion, and 29029. With over 6.4 plus million Total Members and 1.5 plus million Interactive Exercise Subscribers in 120 countries, iFIT is the undisputed leader in the field of connected fitness software, content, and equipment.

The sale has been reported at ~$400 Million AUD. Quite a heft payday for the founders of Sweat.

Kayla says she will still be involved in the brand and will continue in her role along with Toby, adding new features, workouts, content, and members to their community.

Sweat will continue its own company and brand, and its headquarters are still in Adelaide, Australia.

Size of Company

More than 85 on LinkedIn. 50-200 employees.

Sweat is expanding its engineering team along with many other roles.

Diversity and Inclusion

“Our mission at Sweat has always been to promote women's empowerment through fitness, and we are dedicated to creating a community and workplace that are free from discrimination and harassment. Because we are concerned for the worldwide Sweat Community, we see an obligation and a chance to boost the diversity of our workforce and the communities with which it interacts.

An Australian-wide team formed an inclusion and diversity task group to help realize these objectives. We built our Inclusion and Diversity Strategy after consulting with individuals of the Sweat Group about the issues they care most about and receiving advice from an outside expert.

Discover what it takes to be Sweat with hundreds of other women from around the world. We are designed to complement your schedule with weekly workouts and planned to program.”

Insights

I think it’s interesting to see another startup quite different in nature from those previously reviewed also started as a personal partnership.

Many people have started journeys in the personal fitness industry, but few reach a status like this one.

A digital journey starting from an ebook, and then into an app, and hence a worldwide community. Brilliant. No doubt the main cause of success would be sheer determination and consistency.

Having achieved fantastic revenue numbers and then an acquisition of ~$400 Million after 6 years by someone who doesn’t have a marketing background, is not a gun sales personality or a high flying CEO. It’s inspiring for anyone who is plugging away at something wondering if it will ever pay off. Keep pushing.