A Freeletics Transformation Story: 8 Years On
The Evolution of Europe’s #1 Fitness App
Freeletics. A kick-ass product, an amazing team, and one ambitious vision to help everyone become the greatest version of themselves. May 2021 marked eight years since we began this mission and, like a rollercoaster, there have definitely been twists and turns along the way. The story of building Freeletics is much like one of our community transformations — sweaty, painful, and at times, seemingly impossible. We started from the very bottom, with no funding or name recognition, and worked tirelessly to make our brand a success. Today with over 52 million users worldwide, we are Europe’s #1 fitness app and hold a spot in the top three fitness apps in terms of subscriber base. As our recent birthday celebrations come to a close, I want to reflect on this very special journey and what it has meant to me personally to be the CEO of Freeletics. You might want to buckle up for this one…
Humble Beginnings
The story starts back in 2012 in a park in Munich, Germany. At the time we were experimenting with a bodyweight training method that revolved around high intensity interval training (HIIT) to get the heart rate up and burn calories quickly. The only requirements? Just yourself, a mat, and the drive to be better than yesterday.
Our HIIT training plans grew through word of mouth and eventually turned into a weekly newsletter to a few thousand people – that is, until the money ran out. You see back then, no one was interested in investing in us or the idea and we were a fully bootstrapped team. And as the resources dwindled, we had no choice but to stop the whole operation. Over the next few days, however, we were flooded with messages from subscribers asking “Where is my next training plan?!” Dozens even sent us their PayPal login, telling us to charge their account whatever we wanted in exchange for the plan. For them, quitting was not an option. And if they were all-in, then so were we.
Fueled by the community
Next, we did probably the most offline thing you can do in an online world. We sold three separate PDF workout plans on Shopify. With the incoming revenue, we hired our very first engineer and started working on a prototype of the initial app. In March 2013, the first version of the Freeletics Bodyweight app was launched. And just 9 months later, the company started to really take off. We began pushing the app into the public eye and marketing heavily on social media. YouTube became a major catapult for our growth, as we watched an influx of user-made Freeletics transformation videos go viral. Not only were these transformations physically impressive, but there was a massive change in their mindset as well. This generated a snowball effect of momentum for Freeletics. It was the boost we needed to reach a larger, international audience. People from Australia to France to the UK and beyond became Free Athletes and were loving training without excuses and getting in the shape of their lives. After the first year with the app, we hit one million users worldwide.
The startup hustle
Over the next few years, the Freeletics team grew like wildfire. Although still a fully bootstrapped company, we were able to hire more people from all over the world — each person was equally as passionate about making our vision a reality. By the end of 2017 and with a thriving community of 20 million users, we had launched 3 fitness and nutrition apps, localized them into 10 different languages, and opened up a community training ground in Berlin, eager to connect and engage members offline. That year we also released Freeletics 4.0, our new, cutting-edge AI machine learning technology, which helped us further disrupt the fitness industry. In doing this, we went to a place that no other fitness app had gone before, and we were damn proud to be leading the pack.
One year later, we took the AI to the next level by adding in hyper-personalized 12-week Training Journeys into the app. Whether you wanted to get lean, gain muscle, or start running for the first time, there was a Training Journey to match your exact needs. And the best part? No two users would ever get the same plan. This state-of-the-art technology, incredible level of personalization and ever-increasing street cred helped us close our Series A investment of $45 million towards the end of 2018 — an incredibly bright and proud moment for both the team and myself. With the funding, we went on to launch features such as ‘Adapt Session,’ which gives users even more freedom and flexibility to work out on their own terms, and Mindset Coaching, which helps build healthy habits, manage stress and improve their mental game through audio sessions. Not to mention a major AI algorithm update that lets us offer a nearly infinite amount of workout combinations in the app. Giving people the tools they need to develop a long-term athletic lifestyle on their terms has always been the goal, and it has been incredibly rewarding to see our vision come to fruition.
Freeletics today, tomorrow, and forever
Eight years on, the startup mentality is still very much part of this team. Flash forward to the present day and you can find a team of 165 extremely talented individuals of more than 40 different nationalities working together to solve some of the toughest challenges that face the industry today. And while we continue to work from home thanks to a global pandemic, we are inspired and driven to keep the Freeletics spirit alive both internally and externally. We are very happy that our product can be a small support for people out there, helping them cope with the situation and keeping them fit & mindful during these challenging and unprecedented times. As a result, we have seen an increase in new users and activity on our platform. I am also very thankful for our incredibly supportive board of investors that awarded us with a $25 million Series B investment round. Together as one team, we continue to strive everyday towards even more greatness.
So, what comes next for Freeletics? Well, while there are some exciting things under wraps, I can confidently say that in the next 12 months we will take massive steps with our app as well as continue to drive innovation into the market. We will keep on disrupting the health and fitness industry and set the pace for what the future of fitness will be tomorrow and years down the line. We know that there will always be curveballs, challenges, and learnings, but this is where growth happens. We are confident that our Freeletics transformation story is far from over. This is only the beginning. Watch this space as we do it again, and again, and again. There are some incredible times ahead.
