CureFit Raises $2 Mn, Eyes EBITDA Profitability In Ongoing Fiscal Year

IPO-bound fitness unicorn CureFit has raised about $2 Mn (INR 16.8 Cr) from existing investor First Luxembourg SCA at a flat valuation of $1.6 Bn. The homegrown brand was pegged at the same valuation four years ago as well.

First Luxembourg SCA is a step-down subsidiary of German fitness giant LifeFit Group. 

As per CureFit’s MCA filings, it issued a total of 3.4 Lakh CCPS to Fitness First Luxembourg SCA at INR 483.62 apiece to raise the amount. 

CureFit CEO Naresh Krishnaswamy confirmed the funding with Inc42, saying the startup issued the preference shares after a request from the investor. “While we do not have a need for raising funds for any of our corporate purposes, it was an inbound request from an existing investor, which we took forward,” he said in an emailed response.

Founded in 2016 by Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori, CureFit is a health and fitness startup headquartered in Bengaluru. It runs physical fitness platform Cultfit, among others.

Its service offerings primarily include gym chains operated via three models – self-owned gyms, franchised gyms, and the marketplace model. 

Cofounder Nagori moved on from CureFit to launch his new venture, cloud kitchen startup Curefoods in 2020.

It operates more than 700 gyms under the Cult.fit umbrella, with a presence in more than 40 cities. It has raised a total funding of $660 Mn to date and counts the likes of Zomato, Tata Digital, Temasek, Accel, Kalaari Capital, Chiratae Ventures, South Park Commons, Binny Bansal, and Hrithik Roshan among its investors.

It last raised INR 84.5 Cr in a Series F funding round led by existing backer Valecha Investments last year. 

CureFit Eyes Profitability By FY26

Krishnaswamy said that the startup is on track to achieve EBITDA profitability by the end of the fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26). He added that its fitness services vertical is expected to be EBITDA positive starting Q2 FY26.

“… We have seen double-digit EBITDA momentum for the last 2 years, moving us closer to profitability and we expect this trend to continue,” the CEO said. “The key levers for us in the journey to sustainable profitability are the healthy rate of new centre expansion, higher SSSG (same store sales growth) over SSCG (same store cost growth) and a significant benefit from operating leverage on our fixed costs.” 

The CEO added that the top six cities – Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune, and Chennai – account for 90% of the startup’s revenue.

While CureFit is yet to file its FY25 audited numbers, Krishnaswamy said that its revenue grew over 30% in FY25 and EBITDA loss and net loss declined by over 50%.

In FY24, CureFit’s reported a 42% increase in its net loss to INR 888.5 Cr from INR 625.5 Cr in the previous fiscal year due to an increase in cash burn. Operating revenue grew 33.6% to INR 926.6 Cr during the year from INR 693.7 Cr in FY23. 

Krishnaswamy also said that the startup is looking to list on the Indian exchanges next year. “Our DRHP filing process, enroute to the IPO, is moving as per plan. Our listing is planned for 2026,” he said.

Earlier, reports said that CureFit appointed Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, Axis Capital, and JM Financial as bankers to helm its INR 2,500 Cr IPO. However, sources told Inc42 that the company is yet to finalise the bankers or the size of the public issue.

Nevertheless, CureFit is among a growing list of Indian startups eyeing an IPO. Three new-age tech companies – Ather Energy, ArisInfra Solutions and Smartworks – have listed on the exchanges so far this year. 

Besides, 18 other startups have filed their draft IPO papers, including the likes of Urban Company, BlueStone and WeWork India.