Health and wellness platform Cult.fit on Monday said it has picked up a majority stake in F2 Fun & Fitness India Pvt Ltd for an undisclosed sum and subsequently became the master franchise partner for Gold's Gym in India.
Currently, F2 Fun & Fitness India is the master franchise partner for Gold's Gym in India.
Cult.fit will invest in scaling revenue of existing Gold's Gym centres through "top-of-the-line marketing endeavours", and facilitating centre expansion via franchisees in coming years, the company said in a statement.
Through the partnership, the company will also enable all the Gold's Gym centres with its centre-tech suite and customer app, besides looking to expand the Gold's Gym brand across key geographies such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan.
"Gold's Gym's significant experience and sizeable footprint via multiple franchise partnerships paired with our deep-tech expertise and process innovation create a winning formula for our customers and potential franchise partners," Cult.fit Growth and Marketing Head Naresh Krishnaswamy said.
The partnership with Gold's Gym will also strengthen Cult.fit's network further, he added. Gold's Gym Chief Operating Officer Nikhil Kakkar said the partnership will fuel the next phase of growth for Gold's Gym in India.
"We have a mission to touch 200 clubs in 24 months. Over the past 19 years, we have been privileged to work with the best partners in the fitness industry to successfully build the Gold's Gym brand in India," he added.
Cult.fit Chief Financial Officer Bishnu Hazari said the transaction with Gold's Gym in India comes at a critical juncture for the fitness ecosystem which is just gearing up for recovery following the pandemic.
"This acquisition greatly reinforces Cult.fit's leadership position in the Indian fitness space. It also provides stronger impetus to our growth going into 2023, and enables us to seriously think about going public," he added.
In December last year Cult.fit had completed a $150 million Series F fundraise, which was led by food delivery platform Zomato with $100 million, and entered the 'unicorn club' with a valuation of around $1.5 billion.
