Business
Adidas agreed to buy Runtastic fitness tracking startup for $239 million. Founded out of Austria in 2009, Runtastic has built a solid reputation in the digital fitness realm over the past five years, primarily for its flagship GPS fitness tracking app, racking up millions of downloads along the way, writes VentureBeat. The startup has launched a ton of hardware, too, including GPS watches and smartphone mounts for bikes, as well as a number of niche apps for building six-packs, working out at home, and even improving your sleep. And late last year, Runtastic entered the virtual reality (VR) fray with a new fitness app for Oculus Rift.
Despite 140 million downloads globally and 70 million registered users, Runtastic often falls under the European startup radar, while other flagship fitness-tracking apps such as Boston-based RunKeeper grab the headlines. So does this mean that Runtastic will be gobbled up into a dark, Adidas-branded pit never to be seen again? Not according to Runtastic — the app will remain as it is, for the time being at least. But some big improvements are promised for the future. “There are so many more ideas, products, and optimizations we’re working on, and we don’t plan on stopping anytime soon,” said Florian Gschwandtner, Runtastic CEO and cofounder. “Yes, we promise to keep you guessing and on the edge of your seats!”
Rival Nike Inc (NKE.N) was a pioneer in fitness tracking, teaming up with Apple Inc (AAPL.O) on the Nike+ running program for the iPod and iPhone and launching the FuelBand in 2012, notes Reuters. Adidas has been losing market share in sporting goods to its bigger U.S. rival and launched its own miCoach fitness device only last year.
Fast-growing Under Armour Inc (UA.N), which last year overtook Adidas as the second-biggest sportswear maker in the United States, earlier this year bought diet and exercise app MyFitnessPal for $475 million and social fitness network Endomondo for $85 million. Under Armour said those deals had given it a total of 120 million registered users on its Connected Fitness platform, which it said made it the largest digital health and fitness community in the world.
