Tread gets $1.1 million maiden funding round from prominent startup founders

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Prominent startup founders like Gaurav Munjal of Unacademy, Cred founder Kunal Shah, Citrus cofounders Amrish Rau and Jitendra Gupta along with others have participated in a $1.1 million maiden funding round in fitness startup Tread, the company said in a press note today.

Among other investors who pitched in were Sujeet Kumar, cofounder of Udaan, MPL founders Sai Srinivas and Shubh Malhotra, Redbus founder Phanindra Sama, Whiteboard Capital, FirstCheque and Stanford Angels.

Tread which had its inception in July 2020 will use the funds to fast track product development, accelerate the growth of its platform and overall business. Tread wants to replicate the success of Cure Fit but in the online space. It intends to create group workout sessions, all types of conditioning workouts online through its website and its mobile application.

“This fundraise gives us the initial capital to rapidly build out our product, our content across social platforms and to onboard thousands of professional trainers from across the country,” said Dinesh Godara, Founder, Tread.

“Our immediate goal is to launch an immersive and gamified experience for users to choose their workouts and make consistent progress on their fitness goals,” he added.

Tread has built an online fitness community on YouTube, where it has 1.1million subscribers and on Instagram where it has more than 5 lakh followers. The startup is in talks with multiple venture capital firms for its Series A round of funding.

Online fitness platforms are reaping massive benefits since the pandemic has put the brakes on the way young Indians used to work out at gyms and public sports arenas. Since consumers are looking for alternate channels online, platforms like Tread and Fittr are looking to leverage the opportunity and capture market with immersive videos, interactive coaching sessions and healthy living ideas.