ClassPass explained

ClassPass
Industry:Physical fitness
Founders:Payal Kadakia
Sanjiv Sanghavi
Location:New York City, New York, U.S.
Area Served:Worldwide
Key People:Fritz Lanman, CEO
Payal Kadakia, Chairwoman
Parent:Mindbody Inc.
Footnotes:[1]

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

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.[7] The company brought on Mary Biggins to help build the new company, and ClassPass was developed in June 2013.[8] [9] In January 2014, Classtivity was rebranded as ClassPass.

Sanghavi left in January 2014.[10] [11] The same year, ClassPass acquired FitMob.[12] 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.[13]

In March 2017, Payal Kadakia swapped roles with Fritz Lanman, with Lanman becoming CEO and Kadakia becoming Executive Chairman.[14] [15] 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.[16] [17] In March 2018, ClassPass began offering live-streamed fitness classes.[18] [19] [20]

In January 2019, ClassPass acquired Guavapass.[21] Later that year, in October, Classpass acquired Swedish competitor Fitness Collection.[22] Chilean-based MuvPass and ClickyPass, based in Argentina, were acquired in early 2020.[23]

ClassPass was acquired by Mindbody Inc in 2021.[24]

In 2024, the company added food and beverage partners, allowing users to spend credits at participating cafes.[25]

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.[26] 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

Notes and References

  1. News: ClassPass: Meet the Team.
  2. News: Sorvino . Chloe . June 17, 2016 . Why Failing Twice Helped ClassPass's Payal Kadakia Build A $50 Million (And Growing) Fortune . Forbes.
  3. News: Crockett . Zachary . 10 October 2017 . Sh*t, I'm F*cked: Payal Kadakia, Founder of ClassPass . 11 November 2024 . The Hustle.
  4. News: Carson . Biz . October 20, 2015 . How this world-class dancer went from failing twice to a $30 dollar fitness empire . Business Insider.
  5. News: Arata . Emily . I Want Your Job: Payal Kadakia, Cofounder And CEO Of ClassPass . . December 15, 2015.
  6. Web site: 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. Web site: Payal Kadakia: How to price your product to scale . Masters of Scale.
  8. Web site: Crook . Jordan . 2013-09-18 . Classtivity Pivots To Subscription Model So You Actually Work Out . 2024-11-11 . TechCrunch . en-US.
  9. Web site: 2020-03-14 . The incredible rise of Class Pass in 2013 by Payal Kadakia . 2024-11-11 . TheMilSource (TMS) . en.
  10. News: Marikar . Sheila . How one fitness entrepreneur raised $14 million . . November 3, 2014.
  11. News: This Company Will Get You Into Unlimited Fitness Classes . Anna . Maltby . . January 27, 2015.
  12. Web site: Crook . Jordan . Buhr . Sarah . 2015-04-23 . ClassPass Acquires Competitor FitMob . 2024-10-15 . TechCrunch . en-US.
  13. News: Shontell . Alyson . July 31, 2014 . How Getting Mugged And Maced Helped A World-Class Dancer Save Her Struggling Startup . Business Insider.
  14. News: Fritz Lanman takes CEO role at ClassPass as founder Payal Kadakia steps in as Chairman . Crook . Jordan . . March 17, 2017.
  15. News: Work It Out . The Estée Lauder Companies.
  16. ClassPass Announces Plans for North America Expansion Leading into 2018 . . August 22, 2017.
  17. News: ClassPass Is Coming Soon to a City Near You . Margaret . Abrams . . August 24, 2017.
  18. News: ClassPass Live launches on-demand workouts from home . Jordan . Crook . . March 14, 2018.
  19. News: Live-Streaming Fitness: ClassPass's New Product . Sorkin . Andrew Ross . Andrew Ross Sorkin . . January 26, 2018.
  20. News: ClassPass will let you live stream fitness classes at home for $15 a month . Carman . Ashley . . December 6, 2017.
  21. News: Crook . Jordan . January 7, 2019 . Fitness marketplace ClassPass acquires competitor GuavaPass . TechCrunch.
  22. Web site: Novac . Dragos . Fitness Collection was acquired by US-based Classpass. . 2024-10-15 . Nordic 9 . en.
  23. Web site: Iino . Josefina Domínguez . 2020-03-02 . ClassPass acquires MuvPass and ClickyPass as part of its expansion throughout Latin America . 2024-10-22 . LatamList . en-US.
  24. Web site: Mariam Rajesh . Ananya . 14 August 2024 . Mindbody ClassPass to go public in 12-18 months, CEO says . 15 October 2024 . Reuters.
  25. Web site: Fedeli . Kristen . 2024-03-12 . ClassPass Enters Food & Beverage . 2024-11-26 . Fitt Insider . en-US.
  26. News: Classpass Is In Session With $40 Million In Series B . Jordan . Crook . . January 15, 2015.
  27. News: ClassPass, Valued at More Than $200M, Taps Into Gym Craze . Yuliya . Chernova . . March 12, 2015 . subscription.
  28. News: Confirmed, ClassPass Raises $30 Million Series C From Google Ventures . Jordan . Crook . . 11 November 2015.
  29. News: ClassPass secures $70 million Series C led by Temasek . Jordan . Crook . . June 16, 2017.
  30. News: ClassPass Taps $70 Million in 'Down' Round . Yuliya . Chernova . . June 16, 2017 . subscription.
  31. News: ClassPass just raised $85 million, celebrates with new "audio fitness" app . RINA . RAPHAEL . . July 31, 2018.
  32. News: Fitness startup ClassPass is now a unicorn . Sara Ashley . O'Brien . . January 8, 2020.
  33. News: Mindbody acquires workout subscription platform ClassPass as fitness industry rebounds . Lauren . Thomas . . October 14, 2021.
  34. News: ClassPass and the Joy and Guilt of the Digital Middleman Economy . Jenna . Wortham . . March 9, 2015 . limited.
  35. News: Fitness subscription service ClassPass brings new business to studios, but at what cost? . BRENDA . BOUW . . March 24, 2019.

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