Celebrity athletes invest in Straffr

The fitness start-up is able to convince a rowing world champion, among others, of the merits of its product.

The Frankfurt start-up Straffr has been able to win over three well-known athletes in its financing round. According to the start-up, handball player Steffen Weinhold, rowing world champion Max Planer and basketball player Niels Giffey are investing in the start-up, which presented its first product almost two years ago. In line with the investment, it now wants to raise additional money from private investors. To this end, it has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Seedmatch.

The product with which Straffr is currently on the market is a fitness band that it claims is smart. It can connect to an app and thus enable interactive training, even without a gym or expensive exercise bike. The band tracks the repetitions and speed of the exercises, among other things. The start-up was founded in 2019 by engineers Stefan Weiss, Torben Hellmuth and Hanno Storz. They presented the smart fitness band for the first time in 2020.

New investor Niels Giffey says about the product: "In my case, Straffr is with me on every trip away from home. For example, I can do a recovery workout in a hotel, where training options are often limited, and keep fit - that makes it the perfect smart training tool for me."