Advertisement

Classpass buys top Asia competitor Guava Pass

ClassPass buys top Asia competitor GuavaPass

ClassPass is reportedly on an expansion spree and GuavaPass supports its mission by joining the company

Fitness experience aggregator GuavaPass has signed an agreement with ClassPass that makes the Asia and Middle East-based company a part of the fitness membership platform.

“The GuavaPass founders reached out to us and said that they were raising more money and had some options developing but that they felt they could continue working on their original mission as a part of ClassPass. They are really missionaries for the space,” said ClassPass CEO Fritz Lanman emphasising that the acquisition move is more about the opportunity.

Also Read: Vietnam-based restaurant tech startup KAMEREO raises US$500K

The acquisition is expected to close in January 2019 with GuavaPass will cease operations in markets where ClassPass is available. In remaining markets, the GuavaPass brand will continue to operate under the ClassPass umbrella until further notice.

“The transaction with GuavaPass will only accelerate our robust growth trajectory as we continue expanding throughout Asia and the Middle East,” said Lanman.

Both companies do not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

As a part of the acquisition, ClassPass will bring on about half of the GuavaPass team.

Founded by Rob Pachter and Jeffrey Liu, GuavaPass has presences across 11 cities in Asia, including Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Mumbai, Shanghai, and Singapore. In total the company has partnership with 75 studio partners since its launch in 2015.

“To be acquired by an industry leader like ClassPass is a true testament to what we’ve built across Asia and the Middle East,” said GuavaPass Co-Founder, Jeffrey Liu.

Also Read: Malaysia’s dropshipping platform Kumoten secures pre-Series A funding from Cradle Fund

Acquiring competition has been a strategic move by ClassPass as in 2014 the company acquired FitMob. However, the company that has bagged a total of US$238 million financing has said that it won’t do many acquisitions in the future as Lanman said it’s not the direction they want to go about for expansion.

ClassPass is now in more than 80 markets across the 11 countries, with plans to expand to 50 new cities in 2019.

Photo by Victor Freitas on Unsplash

The post Classpass buys top Asia competitor Guava Pass appeared first on e27.