Looking Back At Our First Year 

­ƒôà FitX Programming Updates

­ƒÄ¢Swag Alert!

We still have a few Nike FitX Long Sleeve shirts available for purchase. If you are interested in looking as fine as some of these people pictured below, contact Alex Bozzo. (Puppies not included)

ÔÅ® Industry Highlights

Wish you didn't have to pay rent this month?

Well, Equinox didnt. The move comes as a shock as the gym’s owner, Related, said in a recent CNBC interview that wealthy tenants should pay rent during the coronavirus crisis. Check out a brief interview with Equinox Executive Chairman Harvey Spevak (and Ross alum!) to hear how his take on paying rent and how he is approaching their reopening strategy. 

Is it Tonal? Is it MIRROR? Nope, it’s a new company on the block called FormLife...

Forme Life uses a hidden resistance system to simulate weight lifting exercises. The equipment won't ship until Fall 2020, but you can check out the system here.

Watch out Headspace...SilverCloud just raised $16M in Series B funding and has partnered with major healthcare providers

Mental health has taken the center stage of the VC world in the last few years with the emergence of Calm and Headspace. It appears investors believe there is room for another platform in this space. SiliverCloud, the Boston based company says they are already being used by over 300 health care systems including 70% of the U.K.'s National Health Service. The new funding will help them expand in North America.

Coronavirus Crisis: Gyms to open soon?

President Donald Trump called for the reopening of America’s gyms as part of the federal government’s three-phase plan to reopen the economy. Like all businesses affected by mandated shutdowns, the fitness industry is reeling from the fallout. The question remains: Is it safe to reopen? LifeTime CEO Bahram Akradi and Stephen Ross, founder, and chairman of the Related Companies (the parent company of Equinox and SoulCycle) are in favor of reopening but some health experts are lining up in opposition. Both Akradi and Ross are on the president’s economic revitalization task force.

Leaked Apple News: New Fitness App On The Horizon

­ƒôê Industry Financial Highlights

• FitX favorite Aaptive raised $22M from Amazon, Disney and other major investors. Now valued over $200M. 

• The Gym Group, a UK-based budget gym operator, raised £40M through a share issue to help it weather the effects of coronavirus related shutdowns.

• FORM, makers of AR-enhanced swim goggles that track pace, distance, and stroke rate, closed $8.5M in Series A funding. 

• Yes Health, a personalized weight loss and nutrition platform raised $6M from Khosla Ventures.

Over the course of 6 weeks, a team of students from Ross, Erb, and the Masters of Management programs came together to create a retail expansion strategy for a leading at-home fitness tech company.

The team performed a market analysis to determine successful retail strategies of competitors and worked to understand the buying behaviors of the target demographic.

With the help of company employees, the team narrowed down a list of cities prime for expansion and created a rollout plan for each city. The team will present its final recommendations to the company's marketing and retail group at the end of the semester. 

Thanks to this rockstar team:
Dev Agarwal MBA/MS '22
Jake Corness MBA '20
Elise Gordon MBA '21
Rohan Kalra MBA '21
Sean Skyllingstand MBA '21
Kexin Wang Masters of Management '20

Check out a recap of our other action-based learning project focusing on the alternative healthcare market here.

­ƒÿ£FitX Fun Fact