This month’s vlog was filmed at Minmed Wellness Collective and Minmed Cycle, two incredible businesses, within the scenic Jewel, at Changi airport. Minmed Group provides health screening, wellness and GP clinic services, in addition to fitness services.
Read This Month’s Headlines
BIG HEADLINES
- Let’s talk product first…. Nike launches Nike Strength, a collection of strength training equipment including barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells – targeting health clubs via wholesale purchase options.
- Nestle, the food and drink giant, using tech developed by January AI, a metabolic health platform, to dive deeper into personalized nutrition.
- The wearable maker unveiled WHOOP Coach; a personalized 24/7 health coach powered by Open AI.
- Lululemon and Peloton have announced a five-year strategic global partnership through which Peloton will become the exclusive digital fitness content provider for lululemon, and lululemon will become the primary athletic apparel partner to Peloton.
- Now, let’s talk deals… PE-owned HealthComp and Virgin Pulse are to combine in a USD$3B merger.
- Forme is to Acquire Clmbr in Connected Fitness Deal
- Barre3, the US based fitness company, says it has acquired The Barre Code to become the largest omnichannel fitness brand independently owned and operated by women, with 185 studios nationwide and subscribers in more than 100 countries.
- Chinese sports brand Anta Sports Products acquired a 75% stake in women’s activewear producer Maia Active.
- MOVE [REPEAT] Fitness Lifestyle Brands, a new boutique fitness lifestyle brand collective that has successfully acquired Yoga Movement and STRONG Pilates Singapore, in pursuit of its mission to become Asia’s leading boutique fitness provider and redefine wellness across the region.
- Mental health startup Headway closed a $125M Series C at a USD$1B valuation
- Humble Growth, a healthy consumer packaged goods investment firm, debuted with a USD$312M fund
- Third Space adds new funding of GBR£88.5M from OakNorth Bank and Searchlight Capital Partners.
- Indoor cycling platform Wattbike secured funding from Piper – the deal is a “seven-figure” debt funding to support a new product launch and its international growth plans.
ASIA
- In India, congrats to fitness SaaS company Fitness Force, who have now gone live with their NXT technology across 120+ branches of Anytime Fitness India. Congrats to Hadi, Vikas and their teams.
- Across in Singapore, HIT PT from HK have announced they will launch a new facility in Singapore soon! Exciting news.
- Fitstop opens its 4th location in Upper Thomson, Singapore
- Webarre, one of Asia’s longest standing boutiques, are to open their new location at Holland Village.
- PT business TSquared Lab have helped come to the rescue of now collapsed Fenix Fitness as they took on their customers with unclaimed memberships.
- Breathe Pilates opened their first studio in Bangkok earlier this month. Congratulations to Deborah and her team on their first overseas expansion! They also opened their 5th studio in Singapore last August.
- Slap SG, Singapore’s premier pole and aerial dance studio just launched their kids program and kids camp
- Moving to HK, AQ Strong has become the Official Performance Partner for Hong Kong Bulls, professional basketball team that competes in China NBL.
- GO24 Fitness launches ONYX, a new premium fitness offering in Hong Kong, located in Taikoo Place with more centres to be announced soon
- In Thailand, Jetts 24 Hour Fitness, opened its 43rd club on 1st November and will finish 2023 with 45 clubs with the opening of 2 more clubs later this year. All 10 clubs that opened post-COVID are setting record performance level. Huge congrats to Mike and his team.
- In the Philippines, Spartans Boxing Club is thrilled to announce their recent expansion into the country. Additionally, they have successfully signed eight new gyms in Dubai, expanding their reach from one to nine locations in the region with their second gym opening this month!
- Congrats also to Co-Fitness who have just launched their first club in the Philippines.
- Now, let’s talk money… Indonesian health tech company Good Doctor Technology closed a $10M Series A from MDI Ventures and Grab
- Indian gut health brand The Good Bug closed a $3.5M Series A round led by Fireside Ventures to fuel expansion
- Singaporean wellness retailer Evo Commerce gained $2.8M from investors, including IJK Capital Partners and Quek Siu Rui, founder and CEO of Carousell
- Taiwan-based Docter, a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring watch maker, signed a $60M merger deal with Aimfinity.
- South Korea-based Sky Labs closed a KRW 20.7B Series C round, led by Korea Development Bank, for its blood pressure-monitoring smart ring.
- Singapore-based Sugarfree Turmeric Mints brand, HaldyPlus launched its first limited edition flavour: Apple. Congratulations Push!
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND
- Two Aussie Tech Companies, XODA & goXpro unite to revolutionise fitness management & personal training.
- Les Mills Asia Pacific will be celebrating a major milestone – their popular RPM program launches their 100th release!
- BFT will be launching a new program on 28th October, CrewFit – the ultimate high-energy session where teamwork is key!
- Jetts hosted their annual franchise conference – ‘The Gathering’ – the first time they got together in 4 years.
- Congrats to the team at Revo Fitness who just opened their 33rd club, incredible growth from Andrew and his team.
- Congrats to the team at Wildsoul Wellness, a new concept fusion of Recovery , Yoga, Pilates and Nutrition. They opened the doors with 350 members and 120 guests coming along to their open day. Welcome done to Richard and the team.
- Coach Welly Secures Pre-Seed Funding, Valuing Company at $4.25 Million. Congratulations to Owen of this achievement!
NEWS FROM OUR INDUSTRY & LEADERSHIP CIRCLE PARTNERS
- Hapana announced a new investment injection from Riverside Acceleration Capital (RAC) and plans expansion into the US market. The new investment will be used to drive growth and brand awareness across North America.
- Core Health & Fitness welcomes new CEO, Industry Veteran Bryan K. O’Rourke takes the helm
- STRONG Pilates announced they’ll be launching their recovery concept in Q1 of 2024 – ROW. RIDE. REFORM. RECOVER. Some studios will have access to self service, bolt-on recovery areas with cold plunge, sauna, magnesium baths and tech running daily recovery protocols.
- Therabody makes a push into beauty with their new anti-aging mask.
- Matrix Fitness launches their new facility 360 Powered by Ecofit
- Body Fit Training launches new global community-focused fitness programme, Crew Fit
- SHUA Fitness is preparing to partner with more than 10 distributors in 2024 and prepared a lot of support in many aspects to help new and current distributors grow.
- Xponential Fitness will introduce a virtual and mixed-reality app on Meta’s Quest 3 headset, bringing virtual fitness content from Club Pilates, StretchLab and Pure Barre to homes around the world
- Also Les Mills is jumping into Mixed Reality with the launch of the Bodycombat XR workout, for the new Quest 3 headset from Meta.
- Keepme have added two new robust and in-depth best practice guides to their content library, both completely free to download, (1) Email Marketing for the Fitness Industry and (2) WhatsApp Engagement for Fitness Professionals.
- World Class & UFC GYM Russia hosted a yearly global conference for franchise owners from 12 countries and 43 cities, providing an opportunity for partners to gather, share insights, and enjoy themselves.
- ZIVA is expanding into the fitness competition space in Europe in partnership with Hyrox. ZIVA will be providing all free weight and functional fitness equipment for Hyrox’s competitions across the Iberian Peninsula.
- LVL Wellbeing announced they have successfully secured a venture debt facility to support their continued growth and expansion efforts.
- ISSA has acquired medicine school Empowered Education
REST OF THE YEAR
- There is no vlog next month as we are in Sydney to host our year-end Asia-Pacific Festival. Look out for our industry report which will be released in December, free of charge to the market. We are excited to share it with you.
- We are now confirming our industry partners for 2024, if you want to be involved at a brand-level with Beyond Activ please contact us for more details.
- Thank you for watching – we’ll see you again soon!
