Freeletics needs more money

The start-up is currently building up a second mainstay with fitness equipment. It is planning a financing round for its expansion in the coming year.

Until now, the fitness start-up Freeletics has offered AI-based coaching at home via an app, but now it is planning to add the right equipment. The set called "Staedium" includes dumbbells, a training bench and AI electronics, which are connected to a screen via a control unit. The camera is used to check whether the exercises are being performed correctly and the program then provides critical and positive feedback. The aim is to make strength training fun and motivate more people to do it, says Freeletics founder Daniel Sobhani to the Handelsblatt.

The sets should be available from spring 2022 and the founder wants to sell up to 10,000 in 2022. "This will be a second major pillar for us," Sobhani told Handelsblatt. So far, there is only the fitness app, which offers individual coaching with the help of AI. The subscription is initially free of charge, but costs 29.99 euros per month for the use of extended functions. The latter is also necessary if the "Staedium" set is booked, which users can place in their own four walls for 2,490 euros.

Freeletics only raised 25 million euros in 2020, but expansion and development costs money. The next round of financing is due next year, Sobhani told Handelsblatt. The start-up currently employs 170 people who look after its 53 million users worldwide. Since the beginning of 2020, 13 million have been added. Freeletics is entering a different market with its new offering: It is modeled on the American company Peloton, which successfully sells fitness equipment for the home including training programs and generated four billion US dollars in sales this financial year.