Startup Circle: Understanding TREAD and cult.fit's vision for fitness-tech & hardware in India

India's leading integrated fitness and wellness platform cult.fit recently announced that it has acquired TREAD. TREAD is a Bengaluru-based connected fitness startup that has introduced a first-of-its-kind smart fitness bike in India - TREAD One. The acquisition will help cult.fit launch its hardware-at-home business vertical. On the other hand, TREAD, which will continue to function independently. It aims to introduce a suite of high-quality connected fitness cardio and strength and home-workout products and equipment.

Read Dinesh Godara, Founder, TREAD outline the company vision post-acquisition and what the future holds for home-based fitness enthusiasts in India.

Tell us about TREAD and your offerings. Tell us about the team.

We are a premier connected fitness platform; ushering innovation in the everyday home fitness space by integrating different forms of workouts and fitness content into a unique hardware/product. We have recently launched TREAD One. It is a futuristic, smart indoor exercise bike that integrates hardware, software, and (relevant) content in a single high-quality product. It encourages and/or supports different forms of home-based workouts. Further, it has a compact, sleek yet sturdy and durable design, and high-end features and technology. We have built the cycle to offer an immersive and comprehensive fitness experience, and act as a perfect one-stop fitness solution for modern-day fitness enthusiasts across diverse ages and backgrounds.

Our small yet goal-oriented team consists of our product, hardware, software, content, design, and our team of trainers. We have been working towards ensuring quality output being up to par for each department, trying to make this a one-of-a-kind experience for all our consumers.

What are the drivers/market trends that are shaping the Fitness Tech landscape in 2021?

Content is a great driver for shaping the Fitness Tech landscape in 2021 and the near future. Driving motivation to stay on your fitness goals is challenging and without guidance, people tend to fail. We at TREAD are aiming to guide, motivate and drive engagement through our content and our trainers.

How is TREAD tapping these market trends for growth?

We have always been in the game for market trends and understanding what people really need. TREAD is currently onboarding the best trainers to drive engaging fitness content and keep people motivated and inspired throughout their workout journey and beyond. We are trying to build a community - that relates to each other and pushes one another to do better on our fitness leaderboard.

How does cult.fit's acquisition of TREAD prove advantageous to fitness enthusiasts and the fitness industry? What changes for TREAD?

TREAD’s acquisition by cult.fit is great for both our teams. We have matching synergies to achieve a common goal, striving to be a part of people’s everyday life. Further, TREAD will operate independently. However, the support, the trainers, the expertise, and the widespread of cult.fit will make it easier for people to access TREAD One across India.

How has your revenue grown with the brand evolving during the pandemic?

We founded TREAD during the pandemic trying to solve the crisis of lack of innovation in fitness. The lockdown scenario didn’t allow people to access their everyday fitness goals. The product is still in the pre-launch phase and hasn’t reached the market yet.

What has 2020 changed for you? How are things now?

TREAD was founded in 2020. We started by understanding the problem statement in the fitness industry and the different ways we can solve it. We put a solid 6 months into research and understand the market and what we wanted to build for our consumers. By the end of 2020, we had our vision, our product, and way forward in our minds and we rocked it to the next level. We launched the pre-booking of the bike and have more than 400 people who have booked the product. Now, we have started manufacturing the complete product in India and soon we’ll be able to deliver TREAD One into the homes of our first set of consumers.

What are your growth priorities for 2021?

In 2021, we would want to penetrate into the market and open up opportunities for connected fitness at the comfort of one’s home. We want to create awareness of how the old outdated products in the market are holding people back and help them realize the feeling they have been missing till now. We want to create a community of our early adopters. Thus, we aim to make TREAD One a household name with the help of cult.fit, in the fitness industry.

Funding

TREAD started with a seed funding of 1.1M from a clutch of angel investors and VC firms. Now, we are a part of cult.fit expanding into the hardware/ connected fitness domain of the fitness industry.