When Prita Kumar was working in finance, she relied on Friday night Flywheel classes and Billy Blanks' Tae Bo videos; her schedule didn't allow for much else. And she's not alone. "I don't have enough time" is the primary excuse people use when asked why they aren't hitting the gym.
After enrolling in Harvard Business School, however, Kumar created Booya Fitness to eliminate that excuse. On Thursday, Dorm Room Fund Boston announced it's rewarding that decision by Kumar with $20,000.
"All this innovation was happening in brick and mortar," said Kumar, referencing ClassPass, a monthly subscription service that, for just $99, gives users the ability to take up to three classes at any partner studio. "We are the digital video version of ClassPass."
Kumar and her VP of Product Michael Wiggins are creating a digital solution for studios and instructors, by taping their classes in-house and turning them into the high-quality videos you see on Booya Fitness.
"When a studio wants to go digital, it's a lot of stress for them," Kumar explained. "They don't have the bandwidth to handle video production. … A lot run like mom and pop shops. Even the bigger chains only have 15 or so locations."
With Booya Fitness, studios pay a comparatively low fee to receive professional, in-house production services. Partner studios then make money back as people take their classes online — classes that come complete with popular music Booya Fitness has already handled all the licensing for.
"Booya provides support with production, hosting, music licensing, marketing and even offers analytical tools for studios to become better managers overall," wrote Northeastern senior and Dorm Room Fund Managing Partner Matt Bilotti in a blog post announcing the student-run firm's latest investment.
On the consumer side, users are receiving high-definition videos from boutique brands for only $9.99 a month, $27 for three months or $99 a year. Classes range from Barre to Bollywood to Broga, a yoga class for men offered in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville, among other locations. Between the low cost, variety and convenience of classes, Booya Fitness has become a nationally recognized online fitness destination.
"By making fitness classes affordable and accessible," Bilotti said, "the company is poised to shape the way fitness classes are delivered for the next generation."
That potential helped Kumar during her time at Harvard Business School. Booya Fitness received $5,000 and free mentorship through the 2013 Rock Accelerator Award Program, before going on to win the second-place, $25,000 prize in Harvard Business School's 2014 New Venture Competition.
Roughly 20 partners are currently on board with Booya Fitness, which has since moved to New York — "the most densely populated fitness market," according to Kumar. The startup's pipeline is growing by three to five studios a quarter; the plan is to go market-by-market, expanding to the likes of Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.
To do that, Kumar will start trying to raise seed funding so the team can bring on more employees. With a bigger team in place, the startup will be able to roll out additional products, such as "a DIY workout plan feature," which would give fitness bloggers a social tool they could use to engage their followers.
"Unless you're Jillian Michaels, most people don't know a lot of fitness personalities," Kumar acknowledged.
But Booya Fitness is aiming to change that.
"We have 19 different kinds of workouts," Kumar said, "and we're only getting started."
Images via Booya Fitness
