ClassPass, New York, has raised $85 million in series D venture capital financing as part of a global expansion strategy that will allow the health club subscription service company enter new U.S. cities and the Southeast Asian market, the company announced on July 25.
The financing was led by Singapore-based investment company Temasek, with participation from Connecticut-based private equity firm L Catterton's Growth Fund, according to a July 25 media release. As part of this latest venture round, ClassPass is also adding Michael Farello, managing partner of L Catterton, to its board of directors.
“Having our Series C lead investor Temasek double down and lead our Series D is a major vote of confidence in our business and a reflection of the successful evolution to the credits model we made this year," ClassPass CEO Fritz Lanman said in the release. "Temasek has been a supportive shareholder, and their continued engagement will be especially helpful as we launch ClassPass throughout Southeast Asia. Additionally, having L Catterton, one of the top investors in the fitness category, invest and join our board validates how complementary our new model is for partners. As we continue to rapidly expand, we look forward to working with Temasek and L Catterton to solidifying ClassPass’ leadership position in the fitness industry worldwide.”
This latest round of venture capital financing will help ClassPass expand to 10 new American cities and 20 new countries by the end of 2019, according to the release. The company, founded in 2013 by Payal Kadakia, now claims 10,000 partners in 50 cities worldwide.
"We’ve had tremendous success creating the category and becoming the leading fitness subscription in the U.S., but our ambitions have always been more lofty than geographic constraints," Kadakia said. “This latest round of funding helps bring our vision to reality as we more firmly establish ourselves as a global brand.”
Farello expressed in the media release his excitement about joining ClassPass' board.
"Fitness has become more personalized, and ClassPass represents an opportunity to invest behind a market leader that is well positioned for growth," he said. "With our deep knowledge of consumer behavior and significant experience in the fitness industry, we look forward to working with the outstanding ClassPass team to bring ClassPass to more customers in existing and new markets around the world.”
In May, ClassPass announced a new corporate membership program that allows companies to customize benefits packages with ClassPass offerings for employees.