When Cult.fit (formerly called Cure.fit) launched in Bengaluru in 2016, it looked like just another fitness startup in a crowded market. The app offered gym memberships, yoga sessions and group workout classes for young professionals in the city.
Nearly a decade later, the company has transformed into one of India’s largest integrated health platforms, spanning physical fitness centres, digital workouts, mental health therapy, nutrition services, doctor consultations and an online store for fitness products.
A startup born out of gaps in India’s health system
Cult.fit was founded by Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori, both former Flipkart executives, with a simple but ambitious goal, to bring fitness, nutrition and mental well-being under one roof.
The founders saw clear gaps in India’s health and fitness ecosystem, fragmented gyms, limited access to quality trainers, little focus on mental health, and no single platform tying it all together.
Seeing through their experience in e-commerce and technology, they built Cult.fit as a tech-first company, combining physical centres with a mobile app, expert-led classes and data-driven personalisation.
The company opened its first fitness centres in Bengaluru, offering yoga, strength training, dance workouts and group classes.
How Cult.fit scaled quickly in India?
According to Cult.fit’s financial statements, the growth in India has been rapid. Its operating revenue rose from Rs 216 crore in FY22 to Rs 694 crore in FY23, and further to Rs 927 crore in FY24. In FY25, revenue reached Rs 1,216 crore, growing 31% year-on-year.
Fitness subscriptions have remained the biggest driver, contributing 73% of FY25 revenue at Rs 889 crore. Product sales, including fitness equipment and merchandise, added Rs 326 crore.
The losses have been significant in the past, the company has steadily narrowed them, from Rs 889 crore in FY24 to Rs 481 crore in FY25, with EBITDA performance improving and strong momentum continuing into FY26.
The company has raised more than $660–675 million in funding from investors including Temasek, Accel, Kalaari Capital, IDG Ventures, Chiratae Ventures and Oaktree Capital. Mukesh Bansal, who earlier co-founded Myntra in 2007, brought nearly two decades of tech experience to the venture.
How Covid-19 accelerated Cult.fit’s growth?
Before March 2020, Cult.fit’s business was so much dependent on physical fitness centres. Around 60% of its revenue came from offline gyms. When COVID-19 hit and lockdowns forced gyms to shut, the company faced an existential crisis.
When gyms closed, the company immediately focused on in-person classes through their app. The app turned into a digital-first platform offering live, instructor-led workouts across strength training, pilates, cardio and yoga. During lockdown, Cult.fit signed up 1.5 million new users and added 100,000 paid subscribers after launching a paywall in India.
Cult.fit as a new age fitness equation
App-based class bookings, AI-led posture correction, live virtual workouts, and integrations with Apple Health and Google Fit made fitness feel less intimidating and far more accessible.
That approach paid off during the pandemic. As physical gyms shut down, Cult.fit rapidly scaled its digital offerings, onboarding millions of users who were suddenly exercising from their living rooms. On-demand classes replaced rigid schedules, helping users stick with routines in a market where drop-offs are notoriously high.
Behind the scenes, Cult.fit pursued an aggressive expansion strategy. Through blitzscaling, acquisitions such as Eat.fit for nutrition, Mind.fit for mental wellness, and Care.fit for diagnostics, and a growing franchise and partner-gym network, the company built an asset-light ecosystem that went far beyond workouts. Its services now span fitness, food, and preventive healthcare across Tier-1, Tier-2, and Tier-3 cities.
Subscriptions like Cultpass and B2B corporate wellness programs further diversified revenue, allowing Cult.fit to scale faster than traditional rivals such as Talwalkars and Gold’s Gym. In doing so, the company didn’t just sell memberships, it redefined fitness as a daily, integrated part of modern Indian life.