Amit Mathur
Co-Founder
In an interview with CEOInsights, Amit shares the highlights of the company he co-founded and how they redefined the fitness domain.
Walk us through your professional journey and experiences.
I started my journey as a software developer and worked through various engineering roles, last stint being at Amazon before co-founding ONEFITPLUS. We started as an equipment company but soon became a fit tech company striving to be a one-stop solution for all home fitness needs. We were acquired by cultfit in 2022 and currently I am part of the leadership team for the cultfit products business.
Share the inception story of ONE FITPLUS.
Mohit(my brother-in-law and founder, ONE FITPLUS) was already in the e-commerce business for a few years. While he was selling cardio equipment online, we
regularly discussed potential business ideas. While we all know working out regularly can make us fitter and healthier it’s a fact that many of us do not exercise regularly due to a lack of motivation and engagement.
Worldwide, the at home fitness industry was evolving through a blend of smart products and services built around them. Looking at the growth of the at home fitness industry in India, we saw a potential to disrupt it with technology and services. We decided to innovate and develop products to drive motivation and engagement for our customers. The goal was to get people to workout on our treadmills or indoor bikes; forget the 'effort' that goes into 'exercising' and enjoy working out just like a sport.
What are the products and services offered by the company?
We offer best-in-class home cardio equipment, and value added services such as live workout sessions, fitness games, rewards, a smart app for tracking progress, dedicated fitness coaches, customized diet plans, tailored exercise classes expert consultations, and more. ONEFITPLUS combined world class quality products with a pan-India service network and revolutionary technology to deliver active, engaging, and addictive fitness in the comfort of your home. Within four years of launch, we had sold smart equipment to over 150000 customers across India.
Brief us on ONEFITPLUS’s position in the market. What is the USP?
ONEFITPLUS is the pioneer in Connected Fitness in India. We are continuing in the same vein post the acquisition, driving home fitness with a leadership position in India. The strategy we used for our products over the years was focusing on the customer pain points and differentiators like having
Worldwide, the at home fitness industry was evolving through a blend of smart products and services built around them. Looking at the growth of the at home fitness industry in India, we saw a potential to disrupt it with technology and services. We decided to innovate and develop products to drive motivation and engagement for our customers. The goal was to get people to workout on our treadmills or indoor bikes; forget the 'effort' that goes into 'exercising' and enjoy working out just like a sport.
We make exercise at home fun with smart equipment, trainer classes, fitness games, personal coach and more
What are the products and services offered by the company?
We offer best-in-class home cardio equipment, and value added services such as live workout sessions, fitness games, rewards, a smart app for tracking progress, dedicated fitness coaches, customized diet plans, tailored exercise classes expert consultations, and more. ONEFITPLUS combined world class quality products with a pan-India service network and revolutionary technology to deliver active, engaging, and addictive fitness in the comfort of your home. Within four years of launch, we had sold smart equipment to over 150000 customers across India.
Brief us on ONEFITPLUS’s position in the market. What is the USP?
ONEFITPLUS is the pioneer in Connected Fitness in India. We are continuing in the same vein post the acquisition, driving home fitness with a leadership position in India. The strategy we used for our products over the years was focusing on the customer pain points and differentiators like having
like having an installation and service support(care for the expensive equipment), understanding that diet (eating right) is a key ingredient in fitness, and that engagement and motivation drives fitness. When customers buy their machines from us, they get the smart cardio equipment to track progress(blend of technology and hardware) and a complete ecosystem with hassle-free ownership. There is no one else who provides so many features in this industry such as at home service with PAN-India coverage, on demand trainer classes, virtual fitness game, outdoor ride tracking, and coach consultations (covers Personal Dietician,
Reflect on some of the major challenges you have experienced in your journey so far.
No new venture is bereft of challenges and uncertainties, and ONEFITPLUS had several obstacles in the path of carving a niche for itself and making a difference in our customers’ lives. The key challenges besides strong competition were establishing credibility in the market finding our niche in the home fitness segment gaining suppliers’ trust and managing cash flow. More over, it was tough to get the right tech talent and building the products which customer will love. We tried to understand the gaps and pain points for customers and tried to provide solutions for them. We created a strong feedback loop across all customer facing functions and touchpoints, tweaking our offerings accordingly, be it hardware products, software products or services. We built a strong passionate team with high ownership. We also signed up Bollywood stars Kiara Advani and Siddharth Malhotra as brand ambassadors. While I would not say we solved all the challenges, we did done well on a majority of them.
What advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
It’s not easy being an entrepreneur! Be ready to sacrifice and understand that you won't succeed unless you hustle. If you don't hustle, you won't grow. Listen to your customers all the time, and work backwards from them. Network a lot, seek help and think long term while having strong execution in the short term. Lastly, don’t shoot for perfection instead shoot for speed. Iterate fast, fail fast, learn fast, and repeat.
Amit Mathur, Co-Founder, ONEFITPLUS Acquired By Cultfit
A technology leader and entrepreneur.
Reflect on some of the major challenges you have experienced in your journey so far.
No new venture is bereft of challenges and uncertainties, and ONEFITPLUS had several obstacles in the path of carving a niche for itself and making a difference in our customers’ lives. The key challenges besides strong competition were establishing credibility in the market finding our niche in the home fitness segment gaining suppliers’ trust and managing cash flow. More over, it was tough to get the right tech talent and building the products which customer will love. We tried to understand the gaps and pain points for customers and tried to provide solutions for them. We created a strong feedback loop across all customer facing functions and touchpoints, tweaking our offerings accordingly, be it hardware products, software products or services. We built a strong passionate team with high ownership. We also signed up Bollywood stars Kiara Advani and Siddharth Malhotra as brand ambassadors. While I would not say we solved all the challenges, we did done well on a majority of them.
What advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
It’s not easy being an entrepreneur! Be ready to sacrifice and understand that you won't succeed unless you hustle. If you don't hustle, you won't grow. Listen to your customers all the time, and work backwards from them. Network a lot, seek help and think long term while having strong execution in the short term. Lastly, don’t shoot for perfection instead shoot for speed. Iterate fast, fail fast, learn fast, and repeat.
Amit Mathur, Co-Founder, ONEFITPLUS Acquired By Cultfit
A technology leader and entrepreneur.