SweatPals Raises $12 Million to Redefine Fitness Bonds

Bloomberg

Watch SweatPals Raises $12 Million to Redefine Fitness Bonds - Bloomberg on Dailymotion

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00:00It's great to have you both with us.

00:01Salar, I want to talk first with you and just set the groundwork here.

00:04I just explained, of course, what Sweat Pals is, but in your own language,

00:09what exactly is this app trying to accomplish?

00:13Hi, thanks for having me.

00:14Sweat Pals is the only fitness app on the market today where it's not about reps or calories,

00:20it's about people.

00:22And so we are a marketplace for in real life fitness experiences and what we call day life,

00:28which is people meeting over wellness, meeting over a run, meeting over sweating versus meeting

00:33over drinks and nightlife.

00:35And on one side of the marketplace, hosts can run their businesses and fitness experiences.

00:40And on the other side is how people discover their city's day life.

00:45Interesting.

00:45And so, I mean, now that you have this funding in place, what are your ambitions as you look

00:49into 2026?

00:51As the graphic just showed, you're currently having a presence in about 24 cities.

00:56But as you look for expansion, where else in the country makes sense?

01:00So out of those 24, there are really only five that we really focused on and the network

01:05is really, really dense.

01:06So we want all of those that people have organically started using Sweat Pals to get to that stage.

01:12So that will be one of our focuses after this funding.

01:16And secondly, it's going to be, we also have release tools for the studios and gyms, because

01:20in addition to round clubs and coal pine socials and all these other experiences, gyms and studios

01:26are also one of the big community.

01:28And we build the community rails also for those brick and mortar businesses.

01:32And of course, as we talk about this planned expansion, as we talk about this funding, Andrew,

01:37this is where you come in, of course, just one of the participants in that latest round.

01:42So tell me about A16Z Speedrun.

01:45I think a lot of people are familiar, of course, with Andreessen Horowitz proper.

01:49But what exactly is A16Z Speedrun interested in?

01:53And how does Sweat Pals fit into your portfolio?

01:56Yes.

01:57Well, you know, the really exciting thing about Sweat Pals is I really think of it as the

02:02anti-social networking app.

02:04Because rather than, you know, sort of swiping and scrolling and all the things that we've gotten

02:08used to over the last 10 years, this is a product that really gets you, you know, outdoors,

02:13meeting people, you know, for real, and something that obviously is so needed, you know, these

02:18days.

02:18And so A16Z Speedrun is a brand new program we're operating at the firm to partner with

02:24founders like Salar at the very, very beginning of their companies.

02:27And so we invest up to, you know, a million dollars when the companies are just ideas, when

02:33they're just, you know, kind of a couple scratches on a napkin.

02:36And we try to help them, you know, build the company, get it off the ground started.

02:40And then, you know, over time, introduce them to other investors, invest more ourselves

02:45and everything else.

02:46And Sweat Pals is an awesome example of exactly what we're looking for.

02:49That's really interesting that, you know, you start at the very beginning, contributing

02:53up to a million dollars.

02:55I mean, what does the relationship look like beyond that?

02:57As you know, you meet folks such as Salar and their companies, talk to us about how that

03:02relationship develops as, of course, they become bigger and they need more funding.

03:07Yes, absolutely.

03:08I mean, I think, you know, founders that are great at starting their companies often want

03:13a lot of help once they're scaling to think about, you know, how do I grow my business

03:18to, you know, to global and international markets?

03:23How do I hire, you know, all my top executives?

03:27How do I hire, you know, hundreds and then eventually thousands of people?

03:31And I think this is where Andreessen Horowitz is really able to step in and provide a whole

03:37team around Salar and the Sweat Pals team to be able to advise them on everything from exactly

03:45that inception from the very, very beginning on a napkin all the way to one day when they

03:49want to be a public company and operate out at a global scale.

03:54And Salar, I think it's interesting that, you know, if you take a look at your press release

03:58and the second paragraph, it's highlighted the fact that only 54% of adults right now

04:02drink alcohol.

04:03That is the lowest rate ever recorded, which is stunning.

04:07And there's a few different ways I can take this.

04:09But when it comes to Sweat Pals specifically, I mean, why highlight that fact in particular?

04:14How does that sort of feed into the environment in which Sweat Pals operates?

04:18Definitely.

04:21Especially since COVID, people's relationship with fitness has really changed where they

04:25are looking at fitness not just as a way to work out, but as a way to meet, as a way

04:28to get entertainment, as a way to socialize.

04:31And that's one of the reasons that's helping that too is also people are much less interested

04:37in drinking.

04:38And they want to get that high through working out and through sweating.

04:43And that's one of the great reasons that this movement is going as well as it is.

04:49And we want to be the place every in real life workout to be about that, that you also

04:55meet people and you meet over these shared interests.

04:58Yeah, it's fascinating just how sort of societal norms and societal activities are changing.

05:04You can see we're showing a really interesting video of people, I suppose, they're exercising.

05:08But Andrew, let's talk about that a little bit more.

05:10When it comes to the investment in Sweat Pals, is it more about capturing some of these societal

05:15shifts?

05:15Is it about capturing fitness trends?

05:17Or what motivated you to look at a company such as Sweat Pals?

05:22Yeah, that's right.

05:23Well, I think it is certainly incredibly helpful that the consumer trends are all in this direction.

05:28You know, you look at the podcasts that people are listening to, the shows that people are

05:33watching, and it's all about, you know, longevity.

05:36It's all about, you know, all the new ways that science and technology is going to help

05:41us live healthier lives.

05:43And so you have that very broad consumer trend going.

05:48You also have, as I said, sort of, you know, feed fatigue, right?

05:51Sort of a backlash against social networks, a backlash against online dating apps as well,

05:56and sort of a foundational desire for consumers to meet people in a different way.

06:01And so when you couple that with a founder like Salar and Mandy and the Sweat Pals team

06:06really just going right after it, and they were able to prove this in their hometown of

06:11Austin, Texas.

06:13And so by the time that we met the team, they had already shown that this could work in one

06:16city.

06:17And, you know, one of the great things about that is you can sort of open new cities along

06:21the way.

06:22And so now they're in a whole bunch of markets, and we hope to eventually put them all over

06:25the world.

06:25And so now they're in a whole bunch of markets, and they're in a whole bunch of markets.

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