Fitness company Echelon acquires B2B fitness streaming platform FORTË for expansion
Echelon Acquires FORTË: A Leap Forward in Global Fitness and Wellness
Echelon Fitness, a leading provider of intelligent fitness solutions, has announced the acquisition of FORTË, a B2B fitness streaming platform. The acquisition has been rebranded as ELEVATE by Echelon, marking a significant step towards expanding Echelon's global footprint.
With this move, Echelon strengthens its leadership in personalized, intelligent fitness solutions, offering customized live classes and a streamlined schedule of instructors globally. FORTË, with over 457,000 users and 20 million minutes watched last year across 39 countries, brings a substantial user base to Echelon.
The combined strengths of Echelon and FORTË will offer more robust and reliable solutions for enterprise customers. FORTË enables gyms, studios, influencers, and sports organizations to offer branded live and on-demand fitness experiences. This acquisition expands Echelon's capabilities into SaaS and commercial markets globally.
One of the key innovations to emerge from this acquisition is the AI workout builder, powered by generative AI models in Amazon BedRock. This technology provides customization and personalization for enterprise partners, enhancing personalized fitness engagement.
Echelon's mission, as stated by Lou Lentine, CEO of Echelon Fitness, is to provide intelligent, accessible, and personalized fitness experiences anytime, anywhere. To achieve this, Echelon is continuing development of connected fitness products such as the Echelon Row, Echelon Stride-6 treadmill, and the Reflect 50" Fitness Mirror.
The Premier Membership platform will also be enhanced, offering thousands of on-demand workouts, 40+ daily live classes, real-time progress tracking, and a wide variety of fitness styles, accessible globally via connected devices. A new fitness platform, FitOS, is also in beta for Premier members, enabling streaming of shows, social media integration, games, and gamified workout experiences.
In addition to these enhancements, ELEVATE by Echelon is launching a new global studio and adding five instructors to broaden its live class offerings while streamlining schedules. Innovations like StrengthIQ, a smart strength training ecosystem, offer tailored workouts, real-time feedback, and automatic adjustments, designed for fitness operators to customize based on their equipment and space.
The transaction was advised and supported by Mo Iqbal, Founder of SweatWorks, and Stewart Miller. Lauren Foundos, Founder and CEO of FORTË, expresses a desire to empower fitness brands to scale their impact through advanced, user-friendly technology. By joining forces with Echelon, FORTË aims to extend its vision to more global communities, benefiting from Echelon's momentum, innovation, and commitment to personalized wellness.
By integrating with systems like ABC, Mindbody, and Daxko, ELEVATE by Echelon connects content creators with fitness enthusiasts globally, offering a seamless, personalized fitness experience that blends live, on-demand, gamified, and connected fitness offerings for members worldwide. This acquisition marks a significant milestone in Echelon's journey towards becoming a global leader in the fitness and wellness industry.
- The acquisition of FORTË by Echelon not only expands their presence in the fitness industry but also delves into the commercial market, with the combined entities offering robust and reliable solutions to enterprise customers in the finance and technology sectors.
- With the integration of advanced AI models from Amazon BedRock, ELEVATE by Echelon is set to launch the AI workout builder, a key innovation that offers personalized fitness experiences to both enterprise partners and individual users, further cementing its position in the global fitness, business, and technology landscapes.