Warner Music Group has participated in a $22m funding round for digital health and wellness content brand Aaptiv.
The round was led by Millennium Technology Value Partners — a growth equity firm that has previously invested in Spotify, Facebook and Alibaba.
Joining them is venture capital firm 14W and existing investor Insight Venture Partners, while strategic investors include the Amazon Alexa Fund, Disney, and NWS Holdings alongside Warner Music Group.
Aaptiv Inc offers over 2,500 audio-guided workouts and structured exercise programs across a wide variety of activities.
It has a community of nearly 200,000 members who take on average 30,000 of its exclusive classes, which have been streamed more than 14m times, each day.
Every class combines the guiding voice of an Aaptiv trainer with motivating music by artists in every genre.
Launched in 2016 by founder and CEO Ethan Agarwal, the company has over 90 employees in its New York office and has raised over $50m.
The recent investment is its largest round to date and will be used to further the company’s technology innovation, product growth, and customer acquisition.
Agarwal said: “We are honored to be supported by the world’s leading investment firms and technology companies.
“This capital – along with the support from our strategic investors – will allow us to continue to improve the world class product experience we build for our hundreds of thousands of members.”
ethan agarwal, aaptiv
“Aaptiv is now uniquely positioned to continue its dominance in the rapidly growing digital wellness content market.
“This capital – along with the support from our strategic investors – will allow us to continue to improve the world class product experience we build for our hundreds of thousands of members.”
Ray Cheng, Partner at Millennium, said: “We are most excited by how fast Aaptiv has established itself as a category leader in the wellness and fitness space.
“The company’s growth and user engagement metrics over the past two years are some of the best we have seen and we believe a large opportunity awaits as Aaptiv continues deliver the best in class workout experience.”
Paul Bernard, Director of Amazon’s Alexa Fund, added: ”Connected fitness is emerging as a compelling new domain for consumers.
”We’re excited about Aaptiv’s voice-first approach to personal training, and look forward to helping them explore innovative ways to bring that experience to Alexa.”
Music Business Worldwide
