At home fitness has exploded since the pandemic began—companies like Tonal and Tempo have raised fresh rounds of funding, and Peloton has seen its stock rise by more than 4x since April of this year. And understandably so. After gyms closed down during the pandemic, most people were forced to find ways to exercise in whatever space they had in their homes or apartments.
Many at-home and connected fitness companies are reshaping the ways in which people can exercise in their own homes (for a tiny fee upwards of at least a grand), but I was particularly impressed by the startup Zwift.
Zwift is an at-home fitness startup that allows users to compete in cycling and running competitions against other users in the Zwift community, all while actually biking or running on their at-home bikes and treadmills. Let’s get into what I like about Zwift.
Video Games + Exercise
The two things that your parents told you were polar opposites.
I fondly remember playing Wii Sports tennis as an elementary schooler with the belief that it would improve my actual tennis skills. I actually got worse at tennis as a result and burned zero calories in the process. Wii Sports was intended to combine gaming and physical activity, but the physical activity aspect was lacking in every way possible.
Fast forward 10 years, and Zwift has created a quality combination of both gaming and fitness. As you run on your treadmill or bike, you can see your Zwift avatar racing against other people on the Zwift app. You aren’t just flicking your Wii remote now, you’re actually doing the exercise on your at-home treadmill and bike. Further, you’re also experiencing the thrill of competing against other people in a video-game style format.
Adding video game aspects to a fitness app is great for two reasons. First off, it addresses the problem of people not having enough motivation to exercise. Many people may not have the sheer willpower to exercise at-home if they’re just doing a normal workout, but by adding video game-like competitions to the exercise, people may find the exercise more enjoyable and may physically push themselves more to beat others and feel a sense of accomplishment. An online fitness class with an upbeat instructor may not provide the same level of motivation and fun for users.
Second, Zwift’s competitions allow casual runners and bikers to compete in ways that they probably never would do in real life. Users can now feel the thrill of biking in a pack of people on the Tour de France route or sprinting towards the finish line in a close foot race. Zwift is providing an at-home experience that cannot be easily replicated in real life, whereas classes like Peloton’s are very similar to real-life spin classes at your local fitness center. Peloton does have leaderboards to see how you stack up against others, but I’d argue that this form of competition is not nearly as exciting or motivating as seeing your avatar race against others on a digital screen.
Consumer Flexibility
Zwift’s app works with any treadmill or bike (as long as you buy a couple of accessories), giving consumers the flexibility to use an existing bike that they have or buy a new bike that fits their price range.
I think that this is a huge plus for Zwift. Potential customers for Peloton for example may be turned off by the high equipment costs and the fact that they must buy a Peloton bike. Sure, the equipment costs for Zwift may end up being just as expensive as those for Peloton, but at least users have the freedom to pick a bike or treadmill that they like. As a result, this flexibility could allow Zwift to appeal to a wider range of customers in the at-home fitness market.
Zwift however is planning on releasing their own bikes for sale, but hopefully they still provide the same flexibility to consumers.
Clash of Clans guy
In Zwift’s most recent round of funding in September, the company brought on Supercell co-founder Ilkka Paananen as an investor and independent board member.
In my opinion this is great for Zwift because gaming is what really differentiates Zwift from other connected fitness startups, and Paananen really knows his video games.
Paananen created hits like Clash of Clans and Hay Day, and helped revolutionize the mobile gaming space just as it was beginning to become popular. Similarly, I feel that fitness gamification is a fairly new space that is quickly beginning to grow, so Paananen’s experience could come in handy for the Zwift team in the future.
Summary
I’m excited to see what Zwift can accomplish in the near and long term future. I think that they have really differentiated themselves from the pack by investing in the gaming aspects of their company and helping make workouts more fun. Thank you for reading, and feel free to reach out to alexyyang15@gmail.com. Always down to talk and learn from others :)
