I-Fitness, a Shanghai-based startup that sells fitness classes online and offline, has received more than 100 million yuan ($ 15 million) investment from Xiaomi and Shunwei Capital, a venture fund backed by Xiaomi founder Lei Jun, which Behind several companies, the focus is on the development of fitness equipment for smart home fitness systems.
The investment reflects growing investor interest in the fitness industry as the Covid-19 pandemic has increased demand for home exercise.
After the fundraiser, I-Fitness will develop fitness classes for users of smart home fitness equipment developed as part of the Xiaomi ecosystem of connected products and services. This is evident from a post posted on Shunwei Capital’s public WeChat account on Friday.
Since its inception in 2013, I-Fitness has built connections with more than 2,000 gyms across China and developed 480 fitness classes, over 200 of which are trademarked. In 2018, I-Fitness began to vigorously promote its operational service for group classes in Shanghai, so that its fitness studio partners can select personalized courses and instructors via the GX-MASTER platform, which it developed itself. During last year’s pandemic, the company doubled its online operations with an app called Aidong Jianshen, which offers free and paid classes that users can take online or at nearby gyms.
Xiaomi has been building an ecosystem of related products for years, made up of many startups like Huami, a manufacturer of high-tech wearable devices. Last year, Huami announced the second generation of its proprietary artificial intelligence smart device chip, the Huangshan 2, which will power new health-focused products.
Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com)
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