Fitness technology company Cult.fit has promoted its co-founder Naresh Krishnaswamy to the position of Chief Executive Officer. He will succeed co-founder and long-serving CEO Mukesh Bansal, who now assumes the role of Executive Chairman of the company.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Krishnaswamy assumed the CEO position in October of last year, although the company did not formally announce it at that time. This development has been confirmed by a spokesperson for Cult.fit.
Prior to his appointment as CEO, Krishnaswamy held various key roles within Cult.fit, including Head of Finance for over three years, and was also responsible for the growth and business divisions of the firm for more than two and a half years. Before joining Cult.fit, he was associated with e-commerce firm Myntra for nearly six years.
After Tata Digital’s initial investment of $75 million in Cult.fit in June 2021, Bansal joined Tata Digital as President while continuing to hold the top position at Cult.fit.
In a recent funding round, Cult.fit raised approximately $10.2 million in an extended Series F round led by existing investor Valecha Investments. According to data from startup intelligence platform TheKredible, Bansal holds a 10.5% stake in the company. The fundraise was exclusively reported by Entrackr in February.
In January, Cult.fit announced the layoff of around 150 employees as part of its regular annual operating planning process. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the company had previously laid off approximately 800 employees and permanently closed many of its fitness centers across the country.
Cult.fit achieved unicorn status in November 2021 when Zomato, led by Deepinder Goyal, acquired a 6.4% stake in the company in a $100 million deal.
In the fiscal year 2022-2023, Cult.fit’s revenue from operations increased by 3.2X to Rs 694 crore from Rs 216 crore in the previous fiscal year. The company also managed to reduce losses by 20% to Rs 551 crore (excluding exceptional items or non-cash expenses) in FY23 from Rs 688 crore in FY22. However, the company is yet to disclose its FY24 financial numbers.
