ClassPass

Last updated
ClassPass
Industry Physical fitness
FoundedJune 1, 2013;11 years ago (2013-06-01)
FoundersPayal Kadakia
Sanjiv Sanghavi
Headquarters New York City, New York, U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
 Fritz Lanman, CEO
Payal Kadakia, Chairwoman
Parent Mindbody Inc.
Website classpass.com
Footnotes /references
[1]

ClassPass is an American company operating a subscription platform for fitness. Founded in 2013, it was acquired by Mindbody Inc in 2021.

Contents

History

The company was founded by Payal Kadakia and Sanjiv Sanghavi as Classivity in 2010. [2] [3] [4] [5] In 2012, the company launched Passport, allowing users to try one fitness class at a new studio. [6] The company expanded its product to a subscription. [6] [7] [8] The company brought on Mary Biggins to help build the new company, and ClassPass was developed in June 2013. [6] [9] [10] [7] In January 2014, Classtivity was rebranded as ClassPass. [4]

Sanghavi left in January 2014. [2] [11] [12] The same year, ClassPass acquired FitMob. [13] An earlier version of the company's product was intended to sell a better registration system to fitness studios but this did not receive much interest. [14]

In March 2017, Payal Kadakia swapped roles with Fritz Lanman, with Lanman becoming CEO and Kadakia becoming Executive Chairman. [15] [16] In August 2017, the company announced an expansion to New Orleans, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, Cincinnati, Calgary, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Riverside, California, and Salt Lake City. [17] [18] In March 2018, ClassPass began offering live-streamed fitness classes. [19] [20] [21]

In January 2019, ClassPass acquired Guavapass. [22] Later that year, in October, Classpass acquired Swedish competitor Fitness Collection. [23] Chilean-based MuvPass and ClickyPass, based in Argentina, were acquired in early 2020. [24]

ClassPass was acquired by Mindbody Inc in 2021. [25]

In 2024, the company added food and beverage partners, allowing users to spend credits at participating cafes. [26]

Financing

ClassPass received seed funding of $2 million in March 2014, then attracted $12 million in Series A round funding from entrepreneur Fritz Lanman in September 2014. In 2015, it received $40 million of Series B funding from General Catalyst and Thrive Capital. [7] The company was valued as over $200 million. [27] Classpass received an additional $30 million of funding in November 2015 led by Google Ventures. [28] ClassPass announced a $70 million Series C led by Temasek Holdings in May 2017 that valued the company at $470 million. [29] [30] In July 2018, it raised US$85M in financing led by Temasek to expand into Asia. [31] In January 2020, it raised $285 million in funding at a $1 billion valuation. [32] In October 2021, the company was acquired by Mindbody Inc. [33]

Criticism

ClassPass has been criticized for undercutting the business model of the health clubs that it relies on, with a 2015 article in The New York Times describing it as a "middleman" between consumers and health clubs, and arguing that a "power imbalance" exists between the health clubs' owners and ClassPass which mirrors the relationship with other digital intermediary services such as Amazon.com and Uber. [34] The service has accounted for lower margins at some gyms where owners limit the number of members "to prevent being cannibalized". [35]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "ClassPass: Meet the Team".
  2. 1 2 Sorvino, Chloe (June 17, 2016). "Why Failing Twice Helped ClassPass's Payal Kadakia Build A $50 Million (And Growing) Fortune". Forbes .
  3. ↑ Crockett, Zachary (10 October 2017). "Sh*t, I'm F*cked: Payal Kadakia, Founder of ClassPass". The Hustle. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  4. 1 2 Carson, Biz (October 20, 2015). "How this world-class dancer went from failing twice to a $30 dollar fitness empire". Business Insider .
  5. ↑ Arata, Emily (December 15, 2015). "I Want Your Job: Payal Kadakia, Cofounder And CEO Of ClassPass". Elite Daily .
  6. 1 2 3 Lagorio-Chafkin, Christine (5 July 2019). "ClassPass Was a Beautiful Website and a Cool Company--With No Users or Investors. Here's How the Founder Turned It Around". Inc.
  7. 1 2 3 Crook, Jordan (January 15, 2015). "Classpass Is In Session With $40 Million In Series B". TechCrunch .
  8. ↑ "Payal Kadakia: How to price your product to scale". Masters of Scale .
  9. ↑ Crook, Jordan (2013-09-18). "Classtivity Pivots To Subscription Model So You Actually Work Out". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
  10. ↑ "The incredible rise of Class Pass in 2013 by Payal Kadakia". TheMilSource (TMS). 2020-03-14. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
  11. ↑ Marikar, Sheila (November 3, 2014). "How one fitness entrepreneur raised $14 million". Fortune .
  12. ↑ Maltby, Anna (January 27, 2015). "This Company Will Get You Into Unlimited Fitness Classes". Fast Company .
  13. ↑ Crook, Jordan; Buhr, Sarah (2015-04-23). "ClassPass Acquires Competitor FitMob". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  14. ↑ Shontell, Alyson (July 31, 2014). "How Getting Mugged And Maced Helped A World-Class Dancer Save Her Struggling Startup". Business Insider .
  15. ↑ Crook, Jordan (March 17, 2017). "Fritz Lanman takes CEO role at ClassPass as founder Payal Kadakia steps in as Chairman". TechCrunch .
  16. ↑ "Work It Out". The Estée Lauder Companies .
  17. ↑ "ClassPass Announces Plans for North America Expansion Leading into 2018" (Press release). Business Wire. August 22, 2017.
  18. ↑ Abrams, Margaret (August 24, 2017). "ClassPass Is Coming Soon to a City Near You". The New York Observer .
  19. ↑ Crook, Jordan (March 14, 2018). "ClassPass Live launches on-demand workouts from home". TechCrunch .
  20. ↑ Sorkin, Andrew Ross (January 26, 2018). "Live-Streaming Fitness: ClassPass's New Product". CNBC .
  21. ↑ Carman, Ashley (December 6, 2017). "ClassPass will let you live stream fitness classes at home for $15 a month". The Verge .
  22. ↑ Crook, Jordan (January 7, 2019). "Fitness marketplace ClassPass acquires competitor GuavaPass". TechCrunch .
  23. ↑ Novac, Dragos. "Fitness Collection was acquired by US-based Classpass". Nordic 9. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  24. ↑ Iino, Josefina Domínguez (2020-03-02). "ClassPass acquires MuvPass and ClickyPass as part of its expansion throughout Latin America". LatamList. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
  25. ↑ Mariam Rajesh, Ananya (14 August 2024). "Mindbody ClassPass to go public in 12-18 months, CEO says". Reuters. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  26. ↑ Fedeli, Kristen (2024-03-12). "ClassPass Enters Food & Beverage". Fitt Insider. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  27. ↑ Chernova, Yuliya (March 12, 2015). "ClassPass, Valued at More Than $200M, Taps Into Gym Craze" . The Wall Street Journal .
  28. ↑ Crook, Jordan (11 November 2015). "Confirmed, ClassPass Raises $30 Million Series C From Google Ventures". TechCrunch .
  29. ↑ Crook, Jordan (June 16, 2017). "ClassPass secures $70 million Series C led by Temasek". TechCrunch .
  30. ↑ Chernova, Yuliya (June 16, 2017). "ClassPass Taps $70 Million in 'Down' Round" . The Wall Street Journal .
  31. ↑ RAPHAEL, RINA (July 31, 2018). "ClassPass just raised $85 million, celebrates with new "audio fitness" app". Fast Company .
  32. ↑ O'Brien, Sara Ashley (January 8, 2020). "Fitness startup ClassPass is now a unicorn". CNN .
  33. ↑ Thomas, Lauren (October 14, 2021). "Mindbody acquires workout subscription platform ClassPass as fitness industry rebounds". CNBC .
  34. ↑ Wortham, Jenna (March 9, 2015). "ClassPass and the Joy and Guilt of the Digital Middleman Economy" . The New York Times Magazine .
  35. ↑ BOUW, BRENDA (March 24, 2019). "Fitness subscription service ClassPass brings new business to studios, but at what cost?". The Globe and Mail .
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