A Chicago startup believes the gyms of the future will come in the form of a 320-square-foot shipping container.
BOLD, a new fitness startup founded in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, has created a modular training facility out of shipping containers that allows users to access high-quality gym equipment in a clean, socially-distant environment. BOLD is partnering with Chicago real estate developer Sterling Bay to open the first facility at 1000 W. Carroll Ave. in Fulton Market.
BOLD’s initial rollout will include three training pods in Fulton Market, starting in January.
The startup will allow Chicagoans to book private time in the pods for 60-minute sessions, which come with access to a power rack system, kettlebell sets, medicine balls, bikes, indoor rowing machines and more.
BOLD was founded by former Wall Street hedge fund investor and investment banker Jake Goldstein, and was launched in collaboration with Chicago-based investment fund Motivate Venture Capital. The startup has raised $400,000 to date.
BOLD's goal is to fill the gap between traditional gyms and at-home digital fitness options like Peloton.
"We see BOLD as the solution—especially in a post-pandemic world—for gym-goers, personal trainers, coaches and athletes who crave access to premium big gym equipment, but in a more private, safe and digitally-enhanced environment," Goldstein said in a statement.
To keep the pods clean, BOLD is working with AEX Technology Solutions, which operates commercial-grade air filtration units that use UV-A LED technology to disinfect the workout spaces.
Startups with new alternative exercise solutions to traditional crowded gyms have taken off in 2020, including Chicago's Cubii, an under-desk elliptical trainer that sold for $100 million earlier this year. Cambridge, Mass.-based fitness startup Hydrow, which makes a Peloton-like device for indoor rowing, has raised $50 million and added actor Kevin Hart as a creative director this year. Liteboxer, another Boston-area startup, created a similar connected experience for boxing.
Users can currently pre-book space in a BOLD pod here.
