Aaptiv Raises $22M To Bring Flexibility To Exercise

Last month, Crunchbase News explored the world of startups that are looking to cash in on our obsessions with fitness and wellness. Today, one of those startups, Aaptiv, announced that it closed a new round of funding to give companies like ClassPass and Peloton a run for its money.

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Aaptiv’s fresh capital comes in the form of a $22 million Series C led by New York-based Millennium Technology Value Partners. Other investors included the Amazon Alexa Fund, Disney Accelerator, Warner Music Group, NWS Holdings, and others.

Aaptiv’s Series D brings its known total funds raised to just over $52 million, according to Crunchbase. Previously, the company raised a combined $28.6 million in its Series A and Series B rounds both announced in December 2017. The company is now valued at over $200 million, according to Techcrunch.

Founded in 2016, Aaptiv aims to solve a couple of pain points for exercise enthusiasts. Notably, its audio platform reduces the price it costs to go to workout classes, eliminates the need for a personal trainer, and addresses the inconvenience of trying to find a class that fits your schedule. Through monthly ($14.99) and yearly ($99.99) subscription-based memberships, users can set fitness goals and train with audio classes for yoga, running, strength, stretching, and more led by Aaptiv’s on staff trainers.

“Being on-staff gives trainers the opportunity to be a part of our team, become committed to the Aaptiv product, and form relationships with the Aaptiv community,” CEO Ethan Agarwal told Crunchbase News in an email. “The biggest advantage though is that it gives us the ability to maintain quality control […] we are able to properly vet them and make sure their content meets our high standards on a regular basis – something we owe to our members.”

According to its site, the company hosts more than 2,500 workouts and classes and adds at least 40 classes per week.

Aaptiv has a host of smaller competitors looking to mobilize our exercise habits like MoveWith, Yogaglo, Jawbone, and Grokker, to name a few. Aaptiv’s approach is markedly different from companies like Peloton, which sells connected exercise bikes, and soon treadmills—at least to those who can afford them. Similarly, ClassPass has attempted to revolutionize gym memberships by bringing gym goers to fitness centers through its subscription-based workout platform (and has struggled in that process).

Aaptiv’s New York-based team consists of more than 90 employees, including 20 certified trainers. The company noted in its press release a community of “200,000 members who take on average 30,000 of Aaptiv’s exclusive classes each day.”  The company will be joining the Disney Accelerator program this summer. With its new funding, the company says it will focus on product growth and customer acquisition.

“While we have an extensive product roadmap, the most immediate product features we’ll be investing in are around search functionality, as well as personalization to help better serve content recommendations,” Agarwal wrote.

But with smartphones driving our daily habits from waking up in the morning, getting to work, and checking our bank accounts, it’s not surprising mobile-first startups are moving in on fitness (giving us all one more reason to live a more disciplined lifestyle).

Illustration Credit: Li Anne Dias