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ClassPass
IndustryPhysical fitness
FoundedJune 1, 2013; 11 years ago (2013-06-01)
FoundersPayal Kadakia
Sanjiv Sanghavi
HeadquartersNew York City, New York, U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Fritz Lanman, CEO
Payal Kadakia, Chairwoman
ParentMindbody Inc.
Websiteclasspass.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.

History

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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

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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

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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

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  1. ^ "ClassPass: Meet the Team".
  2. ^ a b 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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c 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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