Launching Salut — A New App for Virtual Fitness

Today is an exciting day. I’m proud to announce that we’ve secured $1.25 million in capital, led by Precursor Ventures, and we’ve launched the newest version of Salut. What’s that? It’s a live video app for fitness that makes it easy for fitness professionals to schedule, stream, and monetize virtual group classes — all in one app for free.

I’ve been thinking about this idea for a long time. I spent the years between 2010–2018 at Twitch. The seed of the idea that would become Salut was planted somewhere around 2015. At Twitch, I learned to love the passion, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit of creators. Watching what happens when you combine a creator’s energy with an engaged community on a platform that helps bring them together, is truly inspiring.

Since 2015 we’ve seen the rise of two parallel trends. First, the proliferation of platforms that help creators of all kinds be successful — companies like Patreon, Substack, Roblox, Teachable, among many others — have fundamentally transformed the landscape for creators, which have in turn transformed the industries in which they exist. Huge industries like entertainment, journalism, education, and video games are undergoing profound shifts in power dynamics.

Second, the rise of at-home fitness has changed how people get and stay fit. Consumers are increasingly turning away from incumbent fitness products and services like big-box gym chains, and instead choosing at-home fitness options like Peloton. This trend accelerated overnight when Covid hit, of course.

Salut exists at the intersection of these two trends. Fitness professionals ARE creators but they are underserved by existing platforms. Consumers want at-home fitness experiences, but existing options are either too expensive or generally underwhelming. Salut is bringing trainers and consumers together with a video platform purpose-built for virtual fitness.

We intend to make the fitness industry work better for everyone. We do that by helping trainers be successful. A successful trainer is one who has successful customers. A successful customer is one who has formed a long-term fitness habit. Salut succeeds when trainers succeed in helping their customers succeed.

Thank you to my co-founders Chris Dury and Shailesh Shah. Chris’s product discipline is a reliable compass, and Shailesh’s calm, deliberate engineering management is a steady wind.

Thank you to our advisors Julie Kikla and Eddie Lester for your counsel in these earliest of days. Thank you also to Allison Zerkle for your help in social media marketing.

Thank you to our investors including Charles Hudson at Precursor Ventures, Wisam “Wiz” Abdullah at Spacecadet Ventures, Trevor Kniezle at Correlation Ventures, Luke Thompson and Marc Shroder at Maschmeyer Group, and angels including Florian Gschwandtner, Christian Reber, and Nick Gidwani. Thank you for believing in us.

Onward!