Issue No. 318: Best Bet
Health, wellness, and fitness are ripe for disruption.
As the dust settles on the new year, we’re breaking down the biggest obstacles and opportunities set to define 2025.
Finding Balance
Grappling with economic, technological, and political turmoil, America fell out of the top 20 happiest countries for the first time.
Searching for stability and purpose, conversations about spirituality, relationships, parental stress, and emotional health will spawn dedicated solutions.
Thinking Bigger
Building on foundational therapy, the next evolution of mental health will train focus.
Past traumas resolved, consumers will seek intentional stress — embracing physical challenges for mental fitness. Rewiring the brain, analog hobbies, avant-garde experiences, and remote escapes will offer antidotes to tech dependence.
Embracing Tech
AI healthcare innovations will skyrocket, raising questions and answers regarding consumer trust and engagement. Iterating on failed concepts, innovators will aim to productize health 3.0.
Digitized records and wearables will unlock personalized health — and companies integrating human support, empathy, and accountability will win.
Owning Up
The WNBA’s meteoric rise, plus major investments in women’s leagues, brought attention to female athletes’ needs. As sex-specific sports science grows, every woman’s health will benefit.
From Oura to WHOOP and Strava, major brands are prioritizing women, with features for everything from public safety to perimenopause on the way.
Pushing Back
Protesting Big Food, consumers are ditching seed oils, corn syrup, and dyes. As heated diet debates rage on, a unified focus on whole foods will usher progress.
While some will trade up, high prices and convenience could trap the majority — with conflicting science and degree of processing perpetuating confusion.
Muscling In
Longevity and weight loss have made body composition a priority, and more protein mandatory.
As protein-packed foods flood store shelves, new demos will hit the weights — toppling misconceptions about strength training for good.
Coming Clean
From chemicals and microplastics to air quality and mold, ambient wellness has arrived.
Ignoring “acceptable levels,” consumers will decide their tolerance for toxins in everyday life — pitting natural choices against the status quo.
Punchline: With unprecedented attention on health, the potential for meaningful change is vast and desperately needed. Moving the needle, brands focused on delivering results will usher in a new era of well-being.
🎙 On the Podcast
Padel Haus founder & CEO Santiago Gomez discusses the future of racket sports.
After a successful career as a restaurateur, Santiago channeled his Mexican heritage to launch Padel Haus — turning his childhood love for the game into a thriving NYC membership club.
We also cover: Padel’s explosive growth, slated expansion plans, and the economics of membership clubs.
Listen to today’s episode here.
💸 Eternal raises $13M for high-performance healthcare
Emerging from stealth, athlete-focused healthcare platform Eternal secured $13.25M in a seed round, with clinics set to launch in SF and NYC this spring.
Athlete HQ. Started by The Athletic co-founder Alex Mather, Eternal merges longevity diagnostics and sports science with traditional healthcare to help athletes perform for life.
Utilizing bloodwork, DEXA scans, and in-house performance testing, its specialists create high-performance care plans for pros and enthusiasts.
Vetted. Coming with credentials, advisors include physiologist Dr. Stacy Sims, Golden State Warriors director of sports medicine Rick Celebrini, and triathlete Andrew Talansky.
About time. From digital concierges like Superpower and Function to clinics by Humanaut and Dr. Peter Attia’s Biograph, longevity platforms are supplanting the family doc.
Meanwhile, tools like coaching app Coya (fka OWN IT) and AI nutrition platform Hexis are scaling athlete-specific options.
Takeaway: Equipping athletes with a master plan, Eternal aims to prolong careers—and overall health—indefinitely.
🏋 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.
📈 Barry’s adds funding, targets expansion
Under new ownership, Princeton Equity Group acquired the studio operator from North Castle Partners. Deal terms were not disclosed.
Work hard. Delivering HIIT x strength workouts, Barry’s notched 7M visits across 89 global studios in ’24 while debuting its RIDE X LIFT cycling concept in LA and Frankfurt, Germany.
Go big. With new backing, the brand plans to open 12 more sites this year. Domestically, Barry’s will enter Charleston, Hoboken, and Salt Lake City while fortifying NYC and DC.
Internationally, Madrid, Athens, and Dublin are in the pipeline, as it consolidates operations in the UK and Canada.
Power plays. Cashing out or scaling up, fitness operators are making deals — L Catterton bought Solidcore, Orangetheory and Self Esteem Brands merged, and Crunch Fitness could be next.
Looking ahead: Pursuing expansion while maintaining an air of exclusivity, Barry’s wants to be just big enough to compete.
📰 News & Notes
- The top healthtech innovations from CES 2025.
- F45 Training adds GLP-1s prescription program.
- Equinox Hotels debuts sleep optimization lab in NYC.
- Report: GLP-1 users buy fewer ultra-processed foods.
- Crunch Fitness redesigns gyms for strength, recovery.
- Social fitness, run clubs boost marathon participation.
- Healthy eatery True Food Kitchen adds AG1 drink menu.
- GymNation plots 2025 expansion, tech and facility upgrades.
- Therabody, Garmin partner on personalized recovery insights.
- Tonal launches next-gen strength machine with 250lbs of resistance.
- MNLY, Centr join forces for personalized men’s health optimization platform.
- Kineon partners with Flex to make its red light therapy tech HSA/FSA eligible.
- The Village Health Clubs, Preamble announce healthspan healthcare program.
- Hiring? We can help. Gain access to exceptional talent from the Fitt community.
💰 Money Moves
US 🇺🇸 / Canada 🇨🇦
Athlete-focused longevity clinic Eternal secured $13.25M in a seed round led by Lightspeed Ventures Partners, Courtside Ventures, Treble Capital, and Next Ventures.
Boutique fitness operator Barry’s landed undisclosed funding from Princeton Equity Group.
AI-powered fertility platform Conceivable Life Sciences closed an $18M Series A.
Bakery giant Flowers Foods acquired better-for-you snack and baking mix maker Simple Mills for $795M.
Preventative healthcare platform Superpower acquired Feminade, a digital concierge for women’s health.
Twentyeight Health, a women’s reproductive care platform, raised $10M in a Series A.
Athletic training brand D1 Training acquired Strive Village, operator of four Chicago-area strength and conditioning gyms.
At-home fitness mirror AEKE raised $1M+ in crowdfunding.
Nema Health, provider of PTSD care, secured $14.5M in a Series A round.
Scrum Ventures closed a $68M fund supporting sportstech and entertainment.
Safety Shot, maker of hangover relief product Sure Shot, acquired yerba mate drinks maker Yerbaé Brands.
Crunch Fitness franchisee Fitness Holdings North America acquired five NJ-based gyms from Jersey Strong Gym.
Lady Technologies, maker of a fertility tracking pelvic floor training device, landed $6.5M from Relentless Consumer Partners.
Europe 🇪🇺
TRIP, UK-based maker of nonalcoholic functional beverages, secured an undisclosed investment from The Equity Studio.
Spanish healthy fast-casual restaurant chain Honest Greens Barcelona landed investment from Act III Holdings.
UK-based TRIBE, maker of high-protein energy snacks, raised £2.4M ($2.9M) in a round led by Mercia Ventures.
Spanish club operator VivaGym acquired five gyms from regional competitor Body Factory.
Asia 🌏
Malaysian yoga and Pilates chain The Flow Studio landed investment from Bintang Capital Partners.
Latin America 🌎
Brazilian men’s telehealth platform The Men’s landed $424K in a round led by BR Angels.
Today’s newsletter was brought to you by Anthony Vennare, Joe Vennare, Ryan Deer, and Jasmina Breen.
