Why we invested in Fitso
Indian consumers are becoming more health conscious. According to a report by RedSeer, India had 90 mn Health Conscious Individuals (HCI) in 2018, with the number projected to increase to 130 mn by 2022[1]. 70 mn of these HCI will reside in Metros and Tier 1 cities and will have access to various options including gyms, non-equipment workouts (e.g. Zumba), yoga, sports etc. Of these, recreational sports remain the most popular, yet the most under-served option.
Sports remains a popular activity among Indians. According to an analysis of 7 lakhs resumes in Delhi-NCR for people aged 21 and above, 23% had indicated an interest in playing one or multiple sports[2]. According to another primary research conducted by a startup in this space, 82% of people aged 21–55 years in Delhi-NCR want to play sports. However, despite this interest, sports participation in India is an abysmal 1% of the population, compared to 35% in US, and 15% in APAC region[3]. The reason for this is broken sports infrastructure and non availability of good coaches.
While there are some chains catering to fitness activities (e.g. Cult Fit, Talwalkars etc.), there is almost no organized player in recreational sports infrastructure space. Most of the sports infrastructure in India resides in schools and colleges, with very few privately owned sporting complexes. Also, the quality of infrastructure is poor in most cases and there is a severe lack of good quality coaches who understand how to interact with adult players. This adversely impacts all the participants in the ecosystem — Facility owners are unable to get a good return on their investment and have no incentive to upgrade and maintain their facilities, coaches are unable to earn a decent living and often move to other jobs, while players have a poor experience and move to other fitness options.
Enter Fitso. Fitso is a full-stack facility and coaching solution with a stated aim of ‘Redefining Sports’. Fitso takes over the management of facilities, standardizes them and gets interested players in, significantly increasing the revenue potential of the facilities. On the coaching front, Fitso has a comprehensive coach training regime and is building its own certification program. However, the most compelling point about Fitso is the passionate team that they have assembled under the founders Naman, Saurabh and Rahool.
Over the last 18 months, Fitso has proved its model in swimming. They are now the largest operator of swimming pools in Delhi NCR. There are more Google searches for ‘Fitso Seals’ — the Fitso flagship swimming membership program, than ‘Swimming’ in Delhi NCR. Fitso is now looking to expand into other sports as well as beyond Delhi NCR. The early traction has been very positive on both fronts and we are confident that Fitso will execute well to become the trusted brand for Indians looking to play a sport.
[1] https://redseer.com/reports/indian-habit-of-being-healthy/
[2] https://yourstory.com/2015/10/recreational-sports
[3] https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/in/pdf/2016/10/The-business-sports.pdf
