Italian gym equipment manufacturer Technogym "is launching a new platform to broadcast live and on-demand workouts from top gyms worldwide as the race for fitness tech heats up," according to Rachel Sanderson of the FINANCIAL TIMES. The Milan-listed company, founded by Owner & CEO Nerio Alessandri in '83, will launch Technogym Live in January, starting in the U.K. and Italy. It will allow owners of Technogym equipment fitted with broadcast consoles to "watch cycling, running, rowing, boxing and boot camp classes from its partner fitness studios around the world." The move "comes as fitness has become a new frontier for the tech industry." Fitness streaming apps, like audio app Aaptiv, connected to home equipment such as start-up Peloton Interactive stationary bicycles "have become a big growth area." The "fitness and mind-body industry" was worth $542B in '15. Peloton Interactive recently "scored" a $4B valuation, according to Bloomberg. Via the Technogym Live platform and Technogym’s distribution network covering more than 100 countries, the company’s partner fitness studios participating in the project "will be able to distribute their contents on a global scale." Technogym "is having to sweat to stay ahead of rising competition" from U.S. tech start-ups. The company has 200 research and development engineers, partly based in Seattle (FT, 11/18).
