Zomato-backed Cult.fit raises $10 million from Valecha Investments, others

Cult.fit currently has a monthly cash burn of around Rs 15 crore, and wants to bring it down to about Rs 10 crore

Fitness unicorn Cult.fit has raised Rs 84.5 crore (around $10 million) from existing investor Valecha Investments, which led the round by infusing Rs 36 crore, regulatory filings showed. Sun-N-Sand Hotel’s Gul Advani, also an existing backer, also participated in the round and put in Rs 28 crore.

Extreme Brands LLP, L&K Wellness Services, and a clutch of other investors invested the remaining amount. The company, which is also backed by Tata Digital, has raised money after a gap of nearly two years, as per Tracxn, a private markets data provider.

Cult.fit has raised money at a time when it is looking to move away from a tech-first gym chain to a company that is more focused on an offline model.

As part of the shift, Cult.fit plans to open more physical centers across the country. The company also fired 120-150 mid to senior-level employees because it was changing its model. The cost cut was also because Cult.fit plans to become profitable and list on the stock exchanges in 12 months, as reported by Moneycontrol last month.

The Bengaluru-based startup currently has a monthly cash burn of around Rs 15 crore and wants to bring it down to about Rs 10 crore to show better financial health.

Founded by Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori in 2016, Cult.fit has raised over $650 million from investors like Accel, Temasek, Chiratae, Kalaari Capital, and several others. Flipkart's Binny Bansal and actor Hrithik Roshan are among its angel investors, Tracxn, a private markets data provider, showed. It was last valued at $1.6 billion, data showed.

Apart from operating gyms, the company also has other divisions like Sugar.fit, Carefit, Cultfit, and more.