- General
- September 16, 2020
- 4 minutes read
Zwift Lands $450 Million In Funding
Photo credit: Zwift Zwift, a virtual fitness upstart, has announced that it’s raised $450 million in funding led by private…
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| Photo credit: Zwift |
Zwift, a virtual fitness upstart, has announced that it’s raised $450 million in funding led by private equity firm KKR, with participation from the likes of Permira, Zone 5 Ventures, the Amazon Alexa Fund, Highland Europe, and the venture capital fund of popular bicycle maker Specialized. The new investment gives the investors a minority stake in Zwift, which says it’ll use it to accelerate the development of its software and hardware operations. Zwift is a virtual fitness startup whose core product is interactive software that can be linked to indoor bikes and treadmills to participate in virtual cycling and running competitions. Zwift’s attraction lies in combining fitness with the appeal of gaming, pitching users around the globe in virtual fitness competitions among themselves.
With the new funding, Zwift has now raised a total of more than $600 million in funding since its inception. The valuation that came with this round isn’t disclosed, but for a hint, the $450 million round is disclosed as a minority investment (less than 50% stake), implying that Zwift is now likely valued at more than $1 billion. Zwift particularly says that it’ll use the new capital to help develop its own indoor bikes and general hardware rather than merely facilitate connection to fitness equipment made by other manufacturers as is currently the case.
Zwift, based out of Long Beach, California, was founded in 2015. Since its inception, the company has gotten over 2.5 million subscribers spread across 190 countries. Being a leading platform for virtual fitness, Zwift has taken a step further to organize esports competitions for its users, as later this year, the company will be hosting the inaugural UCI Cycling Esports World Championships.
The investment in Zwift marks the latest for KKR, a prolific private equity investor in technology companies. Since 2014, KKR has bet more than $2.7 billion on technology companies around the globe.
