London, 9th August 2022 - Pure Gym founder and former CEO Peter Roberts has backed Another Round, the remote personal training app enhanced with machine learning.
Joining Roberts, Jacques de Bruin the ex-COO of Pure Gym and other ex-senior Pure Gym team members have also invested in Another Round, which embraces AI to make personal training both smarter and more affordable. Roberts is also joining the board to support Another Round's growth plans.
Set up in 2018 by Max Cotton, an ex-professional MMA fighter turned fitness tech entrepreneur, Another Round applies its proprietary artificial intelligence to personal training, making it more accessible, convenient and effective than ever.
The virtual fitness business is using the investment to accelerate the growth of its community, build a world-class team of coaches and advance its product capabilities. With a loyal consumer customer base and plans to enter the corporate market in 2023, the investment places the company in a strong position to capitalise on the growth of the online fitness market, projected to exceed $30bn in 2026*.
Personal training has always been expensive and relies on a model of in-person sessions in a gym or training centre, until now. The Another Round app offers training sessions in-app, with personalised guides and videos of all exercises, tailored to clients’ goals, equipment (gym or at-home), ability, injuries, and support from a dedicated coach.
Commenting on the announcement, Max Cotton, founder and CEO of Another Round stated:
“We're here to give everyone access to personalised, highly effective workouts and trainers – transforming their physical health. Another Round was created to make health and fitness more accessible than ever before and we’re incredibly excited to have an industry titan like Peter onboard - recognising the shift in how consumers want to buy and experience personal training.
The pandemic showed us huge personal gains when we embrace remote services - time is one of the biggest barriers for people to exercise and by bringing a train anywhere, anytime personal training solution to the market, we’re reducing the time it takes to exercise and making it more convenient to invest in your health. We fit plans to a member’s lifestyle, not the other way round. This approach is why our members love us and get great results.”
Another Round uses AI to automate tasks, rather than jobs. And whilst other AI fitness companies are trying to replace human trainers completely, the company believes that working alongside and with AI is far more beneficial. Cotton added “We believe in the importance of a human relationship between trainer and member, with AI creating a collective intelligence that enables us to scale and facilitate exceptional results for our members ”.
The World Economic Forum recently released a study that reveals global downloads of fitness and health apps surged 46% owing to the higher adoption of online fitness training**. With this in mind, Roberts believes consumers are willing to pay a monthly fee in order to have access to a tailored service that works on their time frame.
Peter Roberts, Founder and ex-CEO of Pure Gym and investor said:
“Another Round is a category creator, moving personal training from a one-to-one service to a hive mind of expertise, coupled with an innovative delivery model. Now is the perfect time for Another Round to disrupt how personal training has traditionally been sold. Max’s background and attitude combined with the app’s member advocacy impressed me and I’m excited to be on the journey with them to build and lead the way in a new virtual fitness category.”
Roberts was the founder and former CEO of Pure Gym, the largest gym operator in the UK, from 2008 to 2015 before the company sold to US private equity fund Leonard Green & Partners for £600 million in 2017. He’s since launched various hospitality businesses and IPO’d the nightclub company Luminar he went on to set up. He now advises young growth companies in their development and is a Chairman of Teamsport Holdings, Youtility Limited and Gymfinity Kids. He also recently invested in UK sportswear brand Castore.
The team of 5, based in South London, which was bootstrapped from launch, raised its first round of investment in 2021, mostly from angels and its members. Following 20k+ workouts completed by members and four years of data, it’s now raising its second round of investment, including the welcoming of fitness industry icons.
Another Round is £65 per month, equivalent to around £5 per training session, and you can cancel anytime.
Discover more here www.anotherround.co.uk
