A smart ecosystem transforming healthcare through exercise.
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Quick update: Fitt has a new look and a bigger vision.
What started as a newsletter is now a holding company. We build, acquire, and invest in health & wellness businesses. Check out the refresh and what’s next.
Anthony & the Fitt team
Creatine is being rebranded.
Stronger
New research, audiences, and formats are fueling creatine’s $4.2B rise.
A staple for athletes and bodybuilders, creatine is Amazon’s fastest-growing supplement, with sales surging 65% YoY to $241.7M in 2023. Flying off the shelf, in-person retail sales jumped nearly 50%, per SPINS.
Muscle-building men remain the core demo, but diverse wellness consumers—many first-time buyers—are stacking creatine for brain, beauty, and aging benefits.
Still, 40% of people don’t understand what the supplement does, highlighting an opportunity for science-backed brands.
More Than Muscle
Extensively studied since 1912, creatine is best known for boosting strength, enhancing performance, and aiding recovery — but research is revealing benefits beyond the gym.
It supports cognition and energy during sleep deprivation, shows promise in treating depression (especially in women), and enhances the effects of CBT and SSRIs.
A cure for aging, creatine topicals reduced wrinkles and UV damage, while mice studies linked it to a 9% increase in healthspan.
Gaining traction, it has been explored for sexual health, hormone regulation, and support through menstruation and menopause.
Influenced. Women produce 70–80% less creatine than men, yet make up just 36% of users. Leveraging social media, viral brands like Arrae, Alani Nu, and Peach Perfect are leading creatine’s glow-up.
Boosted. A mark of sarcopenia, creatine production declines with age. Deemed vital by Peter Attia and Rhonda Patrick, its prevalence in anti-aging products jumped 32.8% YoY, including in Bryan Johnson’s Blueprint Longevity Mix.
Stacking benefits, Create’s performance gummies blend creatine, greens, and functional mushrooms, while mindbodygreen’s powder adds taurine and Just Ingredients fortifies with fulvic acid.
Remixed. Creatine monohydrate—particularly Alzchem Group’s highly refined Creapure brand—remains the gold standard in most powders and gummies, but it doesn’t mix well with liquids or moist foods.
Opening the door to innovation, performance brand Yeu is formulating “creatine 2.0” to up product integration.
Loaded. Creatine isn’t for everyone, with some people affected by bloating or water retention. And it’s not recommended for individuals with kidney conditions or certain cancers.
But for most, the challenge is dialing in dosage. Brands that personalize loading, timing, and formulation across different lifestyles will win.
Punchline: For all its stated benefits, creatine works best with resistance training. As it becomes a catch-all for aesthetics, energy, and aging, brands and consumers must remember it’s a supplement, not a shortcut.
🎙 On the Podcast
Biograph executive medical director Dr. Michael Doney discusses healthspan-focused care.
A preventative health and diagnostics clinic, Biograph combines comprehensive testing and personalized lifestyle interventions for a complete concierge medical experience.
We also cover: Making data actionable, improving patient journeys, and its NYC grand opening.
Listen to today’s episode here
🏗️ Wellness M&A heats up
From healthy eats to recovery tech, companies are scaling holistic platforms through acquisition, integrating products for a larger slice of consumers’ wellness stacks.
Buy & build. The latest moves signal where the market is heading:
Chobani acquired Daily Harvest, extending its better-for-you portfolio beyond dairy into plant-based, ready-to-eat frozen meals. With distribution in Kroger and Target, Daily Harvest gives Chobani a foothold in the multi-billion-dollar freezer aisle.
Infrared sauna maker Sunlighten acquired key assets of Ice Barrel, uniting hot and cold therapy. As demand for contrast therapy surges, the deal accelerates Sunlighten’s vision for a connected recovery ecosystem — complete with digital protocols, an app, and experiential hubs.
iFIT, the connected fitness company behind NordicTrack, picked up Reform RX, adding smart Pilates equipment to its hardware-software stack. With Pilates booming in boutique studios and luxury hotels, iFIT will add fuel to the growing low-impact movement category.
Deal-making. 2025 is shaping up to be a year of consolidation, with these developments following Function x Ezra, Strava x Runna, and Pepsi x poppi in recent weeks.
Looking ahead: From food as medicine to personalized recovery, the future of wellness is multi-modal. And M&A is the fastest way to own the entire health journey.
🏋️ Reimagining the gym
EGYM is bringing intelligence to every fitness floor.
Cutting-edge. EGYM’s Genius AI integrates data across smart machines, apps, and services from 200+ partners to create hyper-personalized training plans for every exerciser.
Adaptable. Adjusting to individual goals, fitness levels, and available equipment, its unique ecosystem meets gym-goers and operators where they are.
Effective. Ushering in a new era of workouts, EGYM’s tech makes trainers more efficient, analog machines smarter, fitness more fun, and members more motivated to come back.
It’s AI for the entire gym. It’s the future of fitness. And it’s available now.
Learn more at EGYM.com.
🧠 Brain control comes to iOS
Apple introduced brain-computer interface (BCI) support for iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro, letting users navigate devices with their thoughts.
Neural inputs. Leveraging Synchron’s Stentrode implant, Apple’s BCI HID protocol will initially serve people with paralysis while enabling brain signals as a new input layer, alongside touch, voice, and motion.
Next frontier. Like AirPods or Apple Watch, brain-computer interfaces could become part of Apple’s ecosystem, unlocking seamless pairing, continuous syncing, and new app categories.
Neuro boom. As the $721B neuroscience market accelerates, companies like Muse, Myndspan, and Kernel are quantifying focus, brain aging, and cognitive performance, while Neuralink and Atom Limbs push into restoration and augmentation.
Takeaway: Apple’s BCI integration isn’t just about accessibility; it’s a leap toward a future where thought is the primary interface for human-device interaction.
📰 News & Notes
- FDA clears first Alzheimer’s blood test.
- Global gym/studio revenue to hit $237B by 2034.
- HYBRD launches cross-discipline performance training app.
- Flykitt unveils personalized healthy meal finder for travelers.
- Scorpios, Remedy Place plan week-long Aegean Sea retreat.
- Proper Hotels nixes seed oils, partners with Zero Acre Farms.
- Eight Sleep unveils fifth-gen sleep system with AI health diagnostic.
- Chelsea Piers Fitness, Gainful tie up on in-club personalized nutrition.
- Xponential Fitness founder Anthony Geisler launches new franchise group.
- Lumati unveils upgraded RLT tech, welcomes biohacker Gary Brecka to board.
- TRIB3 parent Tribute Brands deepens ties to Urban Gym Group, expands in UAE.
💰 Money Moves
US 🇺🇸 / Canada 🇨🇦
Fitness equipment maker iFIT acquired connected Pilates reformer maker Reform RX.
Sauna maker Sunlighten acquired key assets of cold plunge maker Ice Barrel.
NYC-born private gym chain The Athletic Clubs secured $3.5M in new funding.
On the Podcast: The Athletic Clubs founder Dane McCarthy
Biotech firm Regeneron Pharmaceuticals acquired 23andMe out of bankruptcy for $256M.
Digital health platform Hims & Hers secured $1B in senior convertible notes from Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan.
HVLP gym operator 24 Hour Fitness received a $305M financing facility from The TCW Group.
TOCA Football, operator of tech-enabled soccer training and eatertainment facilities, added $35M in a mix of equity and debt.
Sprinter Health, a preventative in-home healthcare provider, landed $55M in a Series B led by General Catalyst.
Sporting goods retailer DICK’S Sporting Goods acquired shoe retailer Foot Locker for $2.4B.
Reperio Health, provider of in-home, diagnostics-led telehealth services, raised $14M in a round led by Caduceus Capital Partners.
Europe 🇪🇺
French HVLP operator Fitness Park secured €280M ($314.9M) in financing from Carlyle.
UK-based Valerie, a perimenopause support platform, secured £514K ($684K) in a pre-seed round.
Akido Labs, developer of AI healthcare clinician copilot ScopeAI, raised $60M in a Series B round.
Cleveland Kitchen, maker of fermented foods, secured $2.9M in funding.
Asia 🌏
Israel’s SpotitEarly, developers of a noninvasive breath test for early cancer detection, announced $20.3M and will enter the US.
Latin America 🌎
Mexican rice and beans company Verde Valle Foods acquired A Dozen Cousins, maker of better-for-you Creole, Caribbean and Latin American meals.
Today’s newsletter was brought to you by Anthony Vennare, Joe Vennare, Ryan Deer, and Jasmina Breen.
