Vitruvian Raises Another $15M for Ultra-Portable Home Gym
The Australian brand’s AI-driven strength trainer requires no installation and is ready to use straight out of the box
Vitruvian, an Australian home fitness startup with a low-profile AI strength trainer that was named one of Time’s Best Inventions of 2022, has secured an additional AU$21.8 million ($14.7 million USD) in funding to bolster its hardware, software and content.
A representative for the startup confirmed to SmartCompany that the funding stemmed from previous Vitruvian investors and is considered an extension of the fitness brand’s AU$21 million Series A last year.
Vitruvian’s 2022 funding, which included Larsen Ventures and Steve Baxter of Australia’s “Shark Tank,” was used to accelerate production and expand into the U.S. market.
Founded in 2008 by Jon Gregory, CEO, Vitruvian has reimagined strength training with its slim-designed AI-driven Trainer+, which loads weight (up to 440 lbs) based on a user’s current fitness profile to create the optimal workout. The personalized adaptive technology promises results in half the time of traditional workouts, but users can opt for non-adaptive training modes to keep weight at a constant amount. Various accessories allow Trainer+ users to continually challenge their bodies in their workouts with the ease of a “quick connector system” for easy swapping of handles, bars, straps and accessories.
Gregory, who has a unique background with a degree in applied physics and worked in finance and trading, saw a dichotomy between using advanced algorithms for trading and the archaic metal weights in the training room of the finance company.
“I had found a problem that technology could solve,” he told Authority Magazine in 2021.
Earlier this year, Vitruvian launched a partner program for fitness clubs and hotels, enabling guest-based businesses to offer its members and guests strength training classes with the Trainer+. Hotels and fitness clubs that team with the fitness startup can join an affiliate partnership to sell the Trainer+ machines to guests at a discount while earning a percentage of the sales.
In October, Vitruvian teamed with Gymshark to showcase its digital resistance training at the Gymshark flagship store on Regent Street in London.
