US fitness app ClassPass acquires Singapore’s GuavaPass

Fitness subscription startup ClassPass today announced that it’s acquiring Singapore-based competitor GuavaPass for an undisclosed amount.

As part of the deal, the US-based company will get GuavaPass’ operations in the Lion City as well as in 10 other markets: Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Mumbai, and Shanghai.

According to a statement from ClassPass, it will also absorb GuavaPass founders Jeffrey Liu and Rob Pachter, along with “select GuavaPass talent.” The transaction is expected to close this month.

Photo credit: ClassPass

This is ClassPass’ second acquisition – it purchased San Francisco-based competitor FitMob in 2015.

First launched in 2012 out of startup accelerator Techstars, ClassPass focused on allowing its customers to purchase single passes for fitness classes, and then pivoted to a subscription model that offered unlimited access to classes. When that proved to be unsustainable, the startup did more iterations and introduced tiers and raised prices. Today, it’s experimenting with a system that gives users credits they can spend on classes, and lets them mix and match classes of their choosing.

Fueled by its US$85 million series D round from Temasek in July, ClassPass has been aggressively expanding its international reach. It entered Singapore last August and unveiled plans to set up shop in 20 more countries by the end of 2019.

ClassPass so far is mostly active in the US, Canada, and Europe, plus a few cities in Asia and the United Arab Emirates.

The acquisition will heat up ClassPass’ competition with Kuala Lumpur-based fitness subscription app KFit, which is part of Sequoia-backed Fave. KFit is present in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Hong Kong.

Tech in Asia has reached out to ClassPass to get more details on the transaction and will update this piece accordingly.