Celebrity athletes invest in Straffr

Among others, the fitness start-up was able to convince a rowing world champion of its merits and its product.

The Frankfurt-based start-up Straffr has won 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. To match the investment, it now wants to raise additional money from private investors. To do so, 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 workouts, even without a gym or expensive exercise bike. To do this, the band tracks, among other things, the repetitions and speed of the exercises. The start-up was founded in 2019 by engineers Stefan Weiss, Torben Hellmuth and Hanno Storz. In 2020, they presented the smart fitness band for the first time.

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