ClassPass recently secured Series D funding that will help the company expand. (Courtesy of ClassPass)
ClassPass, a subscription-based fitness marketplace announced the closing of a Series D round of funding last week. Led by Temasek and L Catterton, the $85-million round brings the company’s overall funding total to $255 million.
“Having our Series C lead investor Temasek double down and lead our Series D is a major vote of confidence in our business and a reflection of the successful evolution to the credits model we made this year. Temasek has been a supportive shareholder, and their continued engagement will be especially helpful as we launch ClassPass throughout Southeast Asia,” said ClassPass CEO Fritz Lanman in a statement. “Additionally, having L Catterton, one of the top investors in the fitness category, invest and join our Board validates how complementary our new model is for partners.”
ClassPass originally began operating in 2012 as an a la carte system where users could buy individual classes. Since then, the fitness brand has become more akin to an actual gym with monthly subscriptions. Now the company plans to add about 100 employees to its existing staff of 335, and will introduce ClassPass Live, a similar product to what Peloton offers.
“It feels like we can take over the world,” said founder and Chairman of the board Payal Kadakia in TechCrunch. “We’ve seen people compete and replicate our model, but we own our category, and we have the ammunition and the right model to tackle the world. Now, our focus is to make sure ClassPass works everywhere. Once we get the behavior working for customers in other markets, we earn the right to offer new categories.”
SportTechie Takeaway
ClassPass already operates in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K., but has plans for launching in a few Asian countries (including Singapore) by the end of 2018. This Series D funding round should act as an accelerator for getting that launch off at an earlier date.
