ClassPass, the startup that allows customers to choose a la carte classes from fitness studios in their city, is adding an option for those who never want to leave their living room.
The company announced Wednesday that it’s launching a new “standalone subscription option for interactive at-home workouts tied to heart rate training.” The new option will be called ClassPass Live and will cost an additional $10 per month for existing users, or $15 per month as a standalone product. A 10-class ClassPass subscription in New York City currently costs $135, while a five-class subscription sets a user back $75. Customers can sign up for the new at-home workouts beginning in early 2018.
The startup isn’t the first to stream fitness classes. Cycling studio Peloton uses a model in which users pay to use the studio’s bike in their homes, in addition to paying a monthly subscription fee to join classes that are streamed from the Big Apple. Last month, Flywheel—also a cycling studio—launched a similar offering. ClassPass CEO Fritz Lanman recognizes that while the startup isn’t the first to try the livestreaming model, “the key is that no one has done this workout with this level of interactivity.” The interactivity, he says, comes from the live heart rate tracker, which Flywheel also offers, through its FLY Anywhere product.
ClassPass was founded by Payal Kadakia in 2013, who handed the reigns over to Lanman this spring. In the past couple of years, ClassPass has focused on profitability, reworking its business model, discontining its unlimited class option, and hiking membership prices.
Lanman calls ClassPass Live “a huge investment, huge bet that’s aligned with a bunch of key trends,” though he declines to quantify that investment. The CEO also confirms that the startup is not yet profitable—though “it’s tracking to profitability.” Moreover, he is hopeful about the intersection of technology and fitness. “This is just the beginning of our digital ambitions,” Lanman says.
This story has been corrected to reflect the fact that FLY Anywhere, Flywheel’s new at-home bike, does offer heart rate tracking.
