Joel Neoh’s KFit raises US$3.25mil in Sequoia-led investment round
By Digital News Asia July 21, 2015
- With membership, users get access to wide variety of fitness activities, facilities
- Claims to have 1,000 partners, and able to facilitate 400,000+ bookings per month
REGIONAL fitness-sharing platform KFit, founded by entrepreneur and former Groupon international vice president for Asia Pacific Joel Neoh (pic above), said it has raised US$3.25 million in an investment round led by Sequoia Capital.
The new seed funding will be invested into technology and partnerships to connect more people to fitness facilities across Asia Pacific, KFit said in a statement.
KFit offers consumers a monthly membership that it said “opens the doors to hundreds” of local fitness facilities, providing a wide variety of classes and activities. It gives people more ways to keep fit and creates new business opportunities for participating gyms, studios, sports facilities, and other fitness providers.
“To inspire people to live healthier lives, KFit is catalysing a new consumer movement to involve the 96% of Asians who currently don’t belong to a gym,” said Neoh.
“By helping consumers integrate fitness into their busy, digitally connected lives, KFit is fundamentally fuelling growth in the fitness industry,” he added.
The startup launched in late April with an undisclosed sum from investors from the United States, Europe, and Asia Pacific, and since then has expanded its network of fitness studios and gyms in the region to more than 1,000 partners.
It claims it is able to facilitate more than 400,000 bookings per month.
Since launch, KFit has grown the number of fitness partners available within the network by five times, and has seen reservations increase almost four times, it said in its statement.
“We are delighted to back Joel and the KFit team as they help make quality fitness programmes more accessible and convenient to consumers,” said Shailendra Singh, Sequoia Capital India Advisors managing director.
“Within weeks of launch, the company was off to a blazing start and we are very excited by its early progress and ambitious roadmap ahead.”
KFit said it already has over 100 staff in eight countries, and is now operating in six cities, with many more set to the join the network including Auckland, Seoul and Manila in the coming weeks.
Related Stories:
Joel Neoh's KFit aims to make keeping fit fun, and social
Joel Neoh quits Groupon, goes back into startup mode
Groupon Malaysia’s Joel Neoh gets World Economic Forum recognition
For more technology news and the latest updates, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Like us on Facebook.