CureFit raises $120M funding from new investors like Unilever Ventures, others
Health and fitness startup CureFit has closed a $120 million funding round, in a mix of equity and debt, with new investors including Unilever Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital and Kotak Mahindra Bank coming on board.
The round was led by existing investors including Chiratae Ventures (formerly IDG Ventures), Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital, and Oaktree Capital.
ET was the first to report on April 15 that the Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori-founded company had racked up $75 million in new capital and was looking to take the financing round to about $120-$150 million.
The company has now been valued at more than $575 million. CureFit has raised about $290 million in capital till date, including the latest round.
CureFit had held discussions with SoftBank Vision Fund, but they have not resulted in a deal yet.
Discussions with Goldman Sachs for a potential investment through debt and equity fell through recently, two people familiar with the matter told ET.
On May 6, Curefit raised Rs 521.8 crore ($75 million) at a valuation of Rs 3,869.6 crore ($557 million), regulatory filings showed. This was the first tranche of the $120 million investment, which also counts Anand Piramal Family Trust, Makan Family Trust and Hadley Family Trust as backers.
CureFit is building a platform offering health, wellness, food and merchandising through multiple brands. This includes a chain of fitness 180 centres under the brand CultFit, a healthy food-delivery offering under EatFit with over 35,000 deliveries per day, a few healthcare clinics called CareFit, and 35 centres for its mental wellness service under the brand MindFit. The investment will fund CureFit’s expansion plans in India and globally.
“There is significant cross-category purchase which is happening and in well-penetrated markets it’s up to 40%,” Bansal, CEO and cofounder, told ET. “In a couple of years, when we have all categories live in most cities, we will be able to launch overarching subscriptions and digital tools to track health goals,” he added.
The company has around 500,000 active subscribers across various offerings with strong cross usage between services, he said.
CureFit claims its annualised revenue stood at $100 million, growing at 200% every year. In fiscal 2018, the company earned revenue of Rs 34.6 crore on a loss of Rs 98.6 crore, regulatory filings show.
Food is the company’s fastest growing category. “We are adding packaged food category in our portfolio and will expand that to top four cities by the end of the year,” said Bansal.
This year, the company plans to expand its Cultfit centre to 10-plus cities including Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, and Chandigarh and launch one in the international market — Dubai. By the end of 2020, the company plans to expand to at least 50 cities.
“As and when we look to expand in more countries, we may look at fresh fund raising, later next year,” Bansal said.
