Wellhub, the global corporate wellness platform, has acquired Urban Sports Club, a European provider of employee benefit programs, in a $600 million deal. This merger creates the world’s largest corporate wellness platform, serving 39,000 corporate clients across 18 countries and connecting five million employee subscribers to 97,000 wellness partners. The move establishes Wellhub as the gold standard for corporate wellness, with a unique model built to deliver high employee engagement, a critical challenge for companies worldwide.
Despite companies investing billions in benefits, a significant gap exists between what’s offered and what employees feel. A recent Gallup report reveals a stark decline, with only 22% of employees strongly agreeing that their organization cares about their overall wellbeing, a sharp drop from 49% in 2020. The combination of Wellhub and Urban Sports Club directly addresses this disconnect. By integrating wellness into the daily employee experience, this new entity empowers companies to turn a benefit into a meaningful solution that drives higher engagement and helps close the wellbeing gap.
Rising Costs and the Shift to Proactive Wellbeing
The demand for effective corporate wellness solutions is accelerating, fueled by two powerful trends. First, rising healthcare costs, projected to increase by 7% yearly, are putting pressure on companies. While a significant portion of these costs are tied to preventable conditions, less than 4% of healthcare spending is currently allocated to preventative care. Second, a fast-growing $365 billion workplace wellness market reflects a widespread recognition that employee well-being is crucial. This is further supported by a recent study that found 88% of employees value wellbeing as much as salary, emphasizing the need for holistic wellness programs.
By combining their strengths, Wellhub and Urban Sports Club are uniquely positioned to meet these market demands, offering a robust and scalable solution that benefits companies, employees, and an extensive global network of wellness partners.
“This is far more than a merger; it’s the creation of the gold standard for employee wellbeing,” said Cesar Carvalho, Co-Founder and CEO of Wellhub. “For too long, corporate benefits have been a ‘check the box’ exercise with massive investment leading to minimal employee engagement. Many companies spend more on coffee and alcohol than on wellbeing for their employees, even though 75% of healthcare costs are preventable. Our acquisition of Urban Sports Club isn’t just about becoming bigger; it’s about driving high enrollment and utilization of a wellness benefit that employees will actually use. This is the strategic choice for any company serious about attracting, retaining, and empowering their people, while driving significant cost savings and sustainable growth.”
Wellhub and Urban Sports Club: A Shared Mission for Global Employee Wellbeing
Together, Wellhub and Urban Sports Club will work to make every company a wellness company, where employees can check-in with their wellbeing every day. Urban Sports Club’s co-founders, Moritz Kreppel and Benjamin Roth, are reinvesting in this new chapter, highlighting strong alignment and a shared commitment.
With a holistic global network of wellness partners, the combined entity offers employees access to an expansive and diverse range of fitness and wellness options for companies doing business across Latin America, North America, and Europe. This simplifies things for HR leaders and gives every employee access to plans that truly meet their diverse needs.
The partnership also creates a true win-win-win ecosystem. Companies benefit by being able to provide comprehensive wellness benefits, both regionally and globally, that actually get used. Employees benefit with a broader range of choices at the best price, making wellness even more accessible. Wellness partners, including gyms, studios, and digital apps for fitness, mindfulness, nutrition, and sleep, have the ability to acquire new members, connecting with millions of employees to drive incremental revenue.
Wellhub is a corporate wellness platform that connects employees to a wide range of partners for fitness, mindfulness, therapy, nutrition, and sleep, all included in one subscription. More than 39,000 corporate clients in 18 countries use Wellhub to provide their employees with access to corporate wellbeing programs. With Wellhub, employees can engage with their wellbeing every day. The result is better productivity, higher retention, and lower healthcare costs. This is the Wellhub Effect. Become a wellness company today. For more information, visit www.wellhub.com.
About Urban Sports Club
Urban Sports Club, a leading European platform for sports and wellness, is dedicated to inspiring people to live healthy and active lives through a large and highly diverse offering. From fitness, yoga, swimming and climbing to team sports and wellness offers – members can design a unique training plan from over 50 sports across Europe and check in for sports via smartphone app. Together with its members and partners, Urban Sports Club creates a diverse community that collectively follows a vision: to be active in a world where the joy of sports is at the forefront for everyone – at any time and in any place. Urban Sports Club describes this as a world of inclusive and sustainable sports and wellbeing.
