ClassPass Presses Play on Launch of Audio-Workout Application

(Bloomberg) -- ClassPass, a subscription service for live workout classes at a range of different studios, is launching an app for audio exercise programs that fitness buffs can do on their own, joining a crowded field in the latest exercise craze.

The free ClassPass Go will initially offer some 400 classes in strength training, core, cardio and more, ranging from 5 to 90 minutes and taught by a roster of 21 fitness instructors from across the country, including Equinox trainers, a two-time Olympian and a former model.

The app’s launch, on iOS and Android, comes after the company last week announced an $85 million funding round that brought total money raised to $255 million for the five-year-old platform. ClassPass, currently available in 50 cities internationally, plans to expand to more than 20 new countries and another 10 domestic cities by the end of 2019.

ClassPass Go is the latest entrant into an already crowded space of mobile fitness guides. A search for "workout app" in the iOS app store conjures up dozens of existing rivals, including Aaptiv, a 200,000-member strong audio-fitness app that has raised more than $52 million from investors including the Amazon Alexa Fund, Disney, and Warner Music Group. Peloton, the startup that offers streamed fitness classes on its proprietary at-home bicycles, launched Peloton Digital in June. Peloton Digital’s $19.49 per month subscription offers access to video and audio-based running, bootcamp and cycling classes from a mobile phone.

While ClassPass Go is free, it’s intended to "expand the overall footprint of the brand" as the company enters new markets, said Dhaval Chadha, senior product manager.

Brian Gallagher, one of the instructors who designed audio classes and provided voice coaching, said the new app will likely gain traction in suburbs or smaller towns where the ClassPass concept hasn’t yet penetrated. "There’s a lot of other people out there that ClassPass can access in areas that studios are not available," Gallagher said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Emily McCormick in New York at emccormick14@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Molly Schuetz, Andrew Pollack

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