JOIN US IN 2024
Thank you for joining us at the 4th Annual Connected Health & Fitness Summit! What a fantastic two days of networking, community building and insights sharing. Some of our key takeaways included:
- Expanding your product offering and reaching new audiences by exploring new wellness verticals
- Attracting, engaging, and retaining your customer base by leveraging data to streamline your customer journey
- Maintaining your competitive edge by implementing a well-curated digital strategy
- Widening your audience reach by discovering untapped markets and monetizing fitness communities
- Building relationships and sharing ideas at our Women in Connected Fitness and CEO/Founders Forum
2023 Advisory Board
Jonathan (“Jon”) Canarick is a Managing Partner with 19 years of consumer private equity investment experience. Since joining North Castle in 2001, Jon has actively managed North Castle’s investments across a variety of Healthy, Active, and Sustainable Living sectors and across all job functions at North Castle. Having started his career at NCP as an Associate out of investment banking, Jon has played a crucial role in the development of North Castle and many of its portfolio companies. Jon currently sits on the Board of Directors of Five Iron Golf, Echelon Fit, CR Fitness, Encore Vet Group, The Escape Game, Barry’s, Brooklyn Boulders, and SLT. Previously, Jon served on the Board of Directors of Kettlebell Kitchen, Curves, Jenny Craig, Palladio, Mineral Fusion, gloProfessional, Flatout, International Fitness, Enzymatic Therapy, Performance Bicycle, Avalon and DDF and was actively involved in the Firm’s investment in Grand Expeditions. Prior to joining North Castle, Jon worked in the Financial Sponsors Coverage and Leveraged Finance groups of Bear, Stearns & Co., where he executed leveraged buyout transactions and provided advisory services for financial sponsors. Jon earned a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.
Jon Canarick
Jonathan (“Jon”) Canarick is a Managing Partner with 19 years of consumer private equity investment experience. Since joining North Castle in 2001, Jon has actively managed North Castle’s investments across a variety of Healthy, Active, and Sustainable Living sectors and across all job functions at North Castle. Having started his career at NCP as an Associate out of investment banking, Jon has played a crucial role in the development of North Castle and many of its portfolio companies. Jon currently sits on the Board of Directors of Five Iron Golf, Echelon Fit, CR Fitness, Encore Vet Group, The Escape Game, Barry’s, Brooklyn Boulders, and SLT. Previously, Jon served on the Board of Directors of Kettlebell Kitchen, Curves, Jenny Craig, Palladio, Mineral Fusion, gloProfessional, Flatout, International Fitness, Enzymatic Therapy, Performance Bicycle, Avalon and DDF and was actively involved in the Firm’s investment in Grand Expeditions. Prior to joining North Castle, Jon worked in the Financial Sponsors Coverage and Leveraged Finance groups of Bear, Stearns & Co., where he executed leveraged buyout transactions and provided advisory services for financial sponsors. Jon earned a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.
Francesca Schuler
Aarti Kapoor is Chief Executive Officer of VMG Consumer Acquisition Corp., a consumer and retail focused SPAC sponsored by VMG Partners. Ms. Kapoor is a seasoned financial services executive with 14 years of experience in investment banking, spending the majority of her career covering high-growth consumer and retail companies across both M&A and capital markets transactions. Prior to joining VMG Consumer Acquisition Corp. in June 2021, Ms. Kapoor was a senior investment banker at Goldman Sachs, where she built out the firm’s coverage of leisure, lifestyle and wellness companies and led the new disruptive growth coverage effort within consumer and retail investment banking. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Ms. Kapoor was an investment banker at Moelis & Company, where she covered consumer and retail companies and built one of Wall Street’s first coverage platforms focused on the health and wellness industry. Ms. Kapoor has advised several marquee brands across the consumer and retail universe including Barry's Bootcamp, Casper, Caribou Coffee, F45 Training, Flywheel Sports, Indigo Wild, LaserAway, Vega, and various others. Ms. Kapoor has been recognized by various outlets for her work in pioneering coverage of the health and wellness industry on Wall Street, listed to "Forbes 30 Under 30" in Finance, Business Insider's "Rising Stars" of Wall Street, and featured in publications by Bloomberg, ESPN, Yahoo! Finance and more. Ms. Kapoor began her career as an investment banker at Citi covering the technology sector. Ms. Kapoor received her B.A. with Honors in Economics from Harvard College with a Citation in Spanish Language.
Aarti Kapoor
Aarti Kapoor is Chief Executive Officer of VMG Consumer Acquisition Corp., a consumer and retail focused SPAC sponsored by VMG Partners. Ms. Kapoor is a seasoned financial services executive with 14 years of experience in investment banking, spending the majority of her career covering high-growth consumer and retail companies across both M&A and capital markets transactions. Prior to joining VMG Consumer Acquisition Corp. in June 2021, Ms. Kapoor was a senior investment banker at Goldman Sachs, where she built out the firm’s coverage of leisure, lifestyle and wellness companies and led the new disruptive growth coverage effort within consumer and retail investment banking. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Ms. Kapoor was an investment banker at Moelis & Company, where she covered consumer and retail companies and built one of Wall Street’s first coverage platforms focused on the health and wellness industry. Ms. Kapoor has advised several marquee brands across the consumer and retail universe including Barry's Bootcamp, Casper, Caribou Coffee, F45 Training, Flywheel Sports, Indigo Wild, LaserAway, Vega, and various others. Ms. Kapoor has been recognized by various outlets for her work in pioneering coverage of the health and wellness industry on Wall Street, listed to "Forbes 30 Under 30" in Finance, Business Insider's "Rising Stars" of Wall Street, and featured in publications by Bloomberg, ESPN, Yahoo! Finance and more. Ms. Kapoor began her career as an investment banker at Citi covering the technology sector. Ms. Kapoor received her B.A. with Honors in Economics from Harvard College with a Citation in Spanish Language.
Debra Strougo
Who attended?
Innovation Showcase
2023 FINALISTS
Thank you to everyone who applied for this year's Innovation Showcase! Congratulations to our 2023 finalists.
APPLY FOR 2024
Our innovation showcase highlights some of the hottest up-and-coming talent-making waves in the fitness sector. Eight applicants, hand-picked by our Selection Committee, will benefit from the exciting opportunity to present in front of our audience of industry leaders and investors. Get ready to witness unique talent disrupting the fitness space.
Please note all finalists must be registered to attend the event.
Application Deadline: Friday, December 8th
2023 Selection Committee
Jonathan (“Jon”) Canarick is a Managing Partner with 19 years of consumer private equity investment experience. Since joining North Castle in 2001, Jon has actively managed North Castle’s investments across a variety of Healthy, Active, and Sustainable Living sectors and across all job functions at North Castle. Having started his career at NCP as an Associate out of investment banking, Jon has played a crucial role in the development of North Castle and many of its portfolio companies. Jon currently sits on the Board of Directors of Five Iron Golf, Echelon Fit, CR Fitness, Encore Vet Group, The Escape Game, Barry’s, Brooklyn Boulders, and SLT. Previously, Jon served on the Board of Directors of Kettlebell Kitchen, Curves, Jenny Craig, Palladio, Mineral Fusion, gloProfessional, Flatout, International Fitness, Enzymatic Therapy, Performance Bicycle, Avalon and DDF and was actively involved in the Firm’s investment in Grand Expeditions. Prior to joining North Castle, Jon worked in the Financial Sponsors Coverage and Leveraged Finance groups of Bear, Stearns & Co., where he executed leveraged buyout transactions and provided advisory services for financial sponsors. Jon earned a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.
Jon Canarick
Jonathan (“Jon”) Canarick is a Managing Partner with 19 years of consumer private equity investment experience. Since joining North Castle in 2001, Jon has actively managed North Castle’s investments across a variety of Healthy, Active, and Sustainable Living sectors and across all job functions at North Castle. Having started his career at NCP as an Associate out of investment banking, Jon has played a crucial role in the development of North Castle and many of its portfolio companies. Jon currently sits on the Board of Directors of Five Iron Golf, Echelon Fit, CR Fitness, Encore Vet Group, The Escape Game, Barry’s, Brooklyn Boulders, and SLT. Previously, Jon served on the Board of Directors of Kettlebell Kitchen, Curves, Jenny Craig, Palladio, Mineral Fusion, gloProfessional, Flatout, International Fitness, Enzymatic Therapy, Performance Bicycle, Avalon and DDF and was actively involved in the Firm’s investment in Grand Expeditions. Prior to joining North Castle, Jon worked in the Financial Sponsors Coverage and Leveraged Finance groups of Bear, Stearns & Co., where he executed leveraged buyout transactions and provided advisory services for financial sponsors. Jon earned a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.
Anthony Gonzales
- Founder of Snapdragon Capital Partners and lead investor in Xponential Fitness
- Partner at TPG Growth leading consumer investing globally; invested in Club Pilates while at TPG Growth
- At L Catterton, helped lead investments in CorePower Yoga, Peloton, and Pure Barre
Mark Grabowski
- Founder of Snapdragon Capital Partners and lead investor in Xponential Fitness
- Partner at TPG Growth leading consumer investing globally; invested in Club Pilates while at TPG Growth
- At L Catterton, helped lead investments in CorePower Yoga, Peloton, and Pure Barre
Jeremy Hirsch
Alex Alimanestianu
Jim Crowell
Kimberley Nixon
Rob Pietroforte
Eloiza Tecson
Eloiza Tecson
2024 Partners
Platinum Partner
ASENSEI
Website: www.asensei.ai
Companies of all sizes and across industries use ASENSEI software to motion-capture human movement in real time, recognize and understand the quality of movement, and power personalized Connected Health and Fitness experiences.
The cross-platform ASENSEI.AI software development kit is the most widely deployed solution for Connected Apparel and 3D Computer Vision. ASENSEI.AI runs on high-powered phones or low-powered consumer electronics, using single or multiple cameras to capture individuals at home, on the field of play or in connected gyms and studios.
ASENSEI solution blueprints accelerate time-to-market for personalized experiences designed to lift customer acquisition, drive customer engagement and lock-in customer retention.
Solution blueprints unlock innovative experiences including real-time form-feedback, exercise progressions and regressions, new customer onboarding, guided learning, smart warmups, movement screens, training journals and partner and group workouts in modalities including strength training, boxing, rowing, yoga and pilates.
ASENSEI. Artificial Intelligence meets Athletic Intelligence(TM)
Gold Partners
Wexer
Website: https://wexer.com/
As a digital fitness market leader, our mission at Wexer is to make world-class exercise accessible to everyone by harnessing the power of technology – at the same time ensuring traditional fitness operators remain at the very heart of this experience.
Our technology creates a bridge between the digital and physical worlds. It enhances our clients’ in-facility products and experiences; it broadens the audience for their expertise, talent and programming via new ‘always-on’ channels; and it enables every user touchpoint to be shaped by data and personalised insight.
Our platform isn’t there to replace operators. It’s a vital tool to guarantee their future.
Mux
Website: https://get.mux.com/3CqiGSy
Mux is a software company that develops video infrastructure and monitoring tools for developers and publishers of online video. The company was founded by experts in online video, including the creators of the biggest open-source video player on the web (Video.js), the largest transcoding service in the cloud (Zencoder), and the premier conference for video engineers (Demuxed). Mux empowers publishers of all sizes to provide high-quality online video viewer experiences and is trusted by leading providers of online video like Equinox, Strava, Paramount, TED, and imgix.
Networking Partner
Stronger U Nutrition
Website: https://strongeru.com/
Stronger U is on a mission to change the way the world eats. Through complete food freedom, expert accountability, and cultivating community, Stronger U members can eat the foods they love, get the support they need, and get off the dieting hamster wheel for good.
Stronger U is the industry leader in macronutrient-based accountability coaching and has helped over 50,000 people achieve real results without unrealistic food restrictions. Rooted in science and led by a team of world-class Ph.D.’s, RD’s, and certified nutrition coaches, Stronger U’s innovative approach helps people reach their goals and create lasting change.
Partner With Us
Based on your objectives, we can create bespoke packages designed specifically for you – from presenting your expertise on the main stage, to hosting a private dinner. You can partner with us showcase your brand and make valuable new connections. Opportunities predominantly lie in 3 main categories: Thought Leadership, Branding & Networking.
To discuss your objectives and partnership opportunities please contact [email protected]
Interested in a media partnership?
We'd love to hear from you and how we can support one another to connect with the industry. Contact [email protected]
YOUR 2023 SUPERSTAR SPEAKERS
Garret Marshall
Sherrill Kaplan
Sherrill Kaplan joined Planet Fitness in June 2021 as Chief Digital Officer. In this role, she is responsible for driving our digital vision and strategy, including leading the continuous enhancement of our mobile app, with a focus on consumer engagement, loyalty and a differentiated omni-channel experience to accelerate Planet Fitness’ growth and success. Ms. Kaplan has over 20 years of experience, most recently serving as Global Marketing Operations Advisor for Advent International, a global private equity firm. Previously, she served as Head of Marketing and Sales for Zipcar, the world’s leading car-sharing network, where she was a key member of the executive leadership team responsible for demand and revenue generation and all marketing functions. Prior to that, she served as the Vice President of Digital Marketing & Innovation at Dunkin’ Brands where she was responsible for developing and marketing Dunkin’s digital platforms, including the DD Mobile app and the DD Perks loyalty program. Earlier in her career, Ms. Kaplan held several digital and marketing leadership roles at global brands including American Express and Citi, Inc. She serves as an independent member of the Fiesta Restaurant Group Board of Directors, as well as the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX). Ms. Kaplan holds a B.S. from Boston University and an M.B.A. from the University of Denver, Daniels College of Business.
Pete Moore
Julia Klim
Julia Klim is the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Ventures at Equinox Group, the leading luxury high performance brand, reporting directly to the Chairman.
Since joining Equinox in early 2019, Julia has been pushing the boundaries of what we know today as wellness. In an effort to create hyper-personalized experiences, she helped launch Equinox’s digital venture and created a data connected ecosystem, driving more meaningful engagement and affinity for the brand across Equinox’s 2 million community reach.
Today, Julia is building Equinox’s strategic partnerships, defining new pathways to growth through web3 technology and reimagining health and wellness’s role in fashion and culture.
Prior to Equinox, Julia worked at PJT Partners in NYC, an investment bank, and PIMCO, an asset management house in CA. She has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a First Class Honours in Bachelor of Science in Computer Sciences and Management from University College London. Julia is born and raised in Poland.
Mohammed Iqbal
Mohammed Iqbal strives to enhance people’s lives. He believes the key to leading a healthier life is having access to fitness knowledge and acting on it. He founded SweatWorks, the leading digital agency in fitness design and technology to create meaningful wellness journeys for everyone.
As founder and CEO, Mohammed has established SweatWorks as a wellness technology brand unlike any other. The agency pursues innovation to make fitness engaging, beautiful and accessible to all.
Mohammed also contributes to the wellness industry via speaking engagements at leading events and fitness conferences around the world. His personal commitment to his fitness journey is an inspiration to all those he comes in contact with. Daily, he immerses himself in strategic and creative thinking, fitness, and innovation. For ten years Mohammed has worked at exploring the intersection of fitness and technology, paving the way towards a more tangible wellness and healthcare future
SweatWorks collaborates with top-tier fitness brands to provide design, technology and marketplace expertise to produce first-to-market fitness and wellness products. It has made the Inc 5000 list as one of the fastest growing private companies five years in a row.
Cristian Liu
John Klein
As the SVP of Real Estate for Equinox, from 2002 to 2018, John led the expansion for both Equinox and Soulcycle.
As Co-founder of Pause, John is focused on business vision and strategy, growth, real estate development, and financing for the company.
Bruce Smith
Bruce Smith is the CEO & Founder of Hydrow, the leading at-home connected rower that brings the on-water experience of rowing straight to your home. A lifelong entrepreneur, rower and coach, Bruce has dedicated his career to helping others experience the power of the sport at all levels. As a US National Team coach, he led the Lightweight Eight to a Bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships, and worked to create widespread access to rowing as the former Executive Director of Community Rowing, Inc. (CRI), Boston’s first public rowing club. Since its inception, CRI has provided education and training for more than 30,000 people, ranging from Olympians and Paralympians to novice and youth programs, and has become one of the world’s largest public boathouses and a model for similar programs nationally.
Bruce founded Hydrow to capture the unique experience of on-water rowing and make it universally accessible, helping people everywhere feel more connected to one another and live healthier lives on a daily basis. Hailing from Canada, Bruce makes his home in Cambridge, MA just blocks away from the Charles River.
Mateo Ortega
Mateo A. Ortega (he/him) is the Vice President of Connected Partnerships at Strava. He has a long-time love for software programming and, during his 10-year tenure at Strava, worked closely with the engineering team to help bolster the company’s GPS services, including mapping, routing and more. In his current role, he is focused on creating new ways to empower a global community of active people by placing Strava at the center of the connected fitness ecosystem - devices, digital fitness apps, content, connected equipment, gyms, content, events, nutrition, training and more. He is passionate about bringing new and meaningful experiences to athletes doing what they love. Mateo is a San Francisco native and now resides in Palm Springs, California. He received a BS in Computer Science from San Francisco State University.
Mazi Zarrehparvar
Scott Marcaccio
Scott Marcaccio is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Myodetox, an omnichannel physical therapy brand operating 13 locations across Los Angeles, Vancouver, and Toronto. With a mission to heal the world, the Myodetox team envisions a future where everyone has the tools, knowledge, and professional guidance to take care of their bodies, and nobody has to live with pain.
Julie Cartwright
Julie Cartwright joined P.volve (www.pvolve.com) as president at its founding in 2017, inspired by how the brand’s mission to change women’s lives at every stage through low-impact functional movement aligned with her personal passion to offer solutions to those who have been traditionally underserved by the fitness industry.
With determination and strong leadership, Julie has helped the company grow from a small, digitally native startup to a female-led and female-focused omnichannel global fitness training method with members in all 50 states and 70 countries worldwide. She spearheads P.volve’s overall vision and growth strategy while achieving financial objectives and setting investment priorities.
Before P.volve, Julie garnered two decades of business development and fitness industry experience, including senior positions with Anchor Bay Entertainment (a Starz Company), where she led its brand and consumer marketing initiatives, specifically for its fitness category. She was also a part of Anchor Bay Entertainment’s successful acquisition by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp in late 2016.
Recognized as a leading authority on fitness and women’s health, Julie has been quoted in a number of media outlets, including ABC News, Friend of a Friend with Olivia Perez, Being Bümo and Business Insider, and has commented on issues such as the emerging menopause crisis in America’s workforce.
Unsurprisingly, Julie is an avid P.volver herself and can often be found at the Chicago studio or taking classes online through its Live Virtual Studio. She is also mama to her great two kids, Ali and Jack, and she strives to show them daily by example that the best leadership skill you can possess is kindness.
Ryan Masanz
Debra Strougo
Debra is the Co-Founder of Row House and was the founding CEO from 2013 until her partnership with Xponential Fitness in late 2017 which grew the brand to 100 currently open studios and 200 more in the works. Debra currently owns and operates the Manhattan Row House locations and works with the corporate team on all strategic brand initiatives, business development best practices and on programming initiatives. She also sits on the Franchise Advisory Council and the Marketing Fund Committee to support and represent the franchisees who are in varying stages of growth. Row House has recently been ranked 1066 in the Inc.com 5000 list of quickly growing private companies.
In addition to her expertise developing Row House from scratch, Debra has played key roles in developing businesses from scratch. Prior to Row House, she created a million dollar plus annual business for NYC, focused on creating digital partnerships with the city's tourism facing assets. This work helped NYC achieve its annual tourism numbers; tourism is traditionally the city's second biggest economic stimulus. During this time she worked with city agencies and constituents, leveraging their assets, knowledge and know-how with that of private business of all sizes. These spanned from corporations like Red Bull, Jet Blue, Starwood Hotels, and more to smaller constituents with either multiple locations like BR Guest Restaurants or single location businesses like Empire State Building and American Museum of Natural History. Debra also worked extremely closely with Broadway, spearheading the creation of Broadway Week; as a follow-up to Restaurant Week; which has become a global program to solve need periods. Debra's 5 years at NYC & Company was pivotal to her career; giving her the network and know-how to succeed.
Prior to her time developing NYC & Company's digital partnerships, Debra wanted more than anything to find a way to bridge her business acumen with her passion for the fitness industry. As an avid fitness professional, teaching classes before and after her un-related career in digital publishing, she came to learn the industry inside and out. She taught classes for top brands in NYC and took on many consulting projects to learn more about the varying aspects of the fitness industry: from gyms to what was becoming boutiques, to infomercial projects, to at home videos, to health and wellness expos, to the certification side of the industry, Debra spent over 5 years taking on projects to determine how she could create a career in fitness that she loved.
Even after graduating college a few years prior, she was in digital publishing for small up and coming VC-backed companied. She was passionate about disruption and even know, continues to move through her career motivated to cut through the clutter, create differentiation and establish sustaining business in smart niches.
Lauren Foundos
Lauren Foundos, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of FORTË since 2015. FORTË streams live and on-demand, cutting-edge fitness classes from well-known boutique studios worldwide directly to you. FORTË builds proprietary hardware and software that is installed into their partner studios, which enables them to seamlessly live stream classes directly to the FORTË platform or through their white-label digital service integrated directly into the brands app/website.
Before launching her own company, FORTË, Lauren spent a decade working on Wall Street, with the last five years in finance on the trading floor as an Institutional US Government Bond Broker at Whitaker Securities where she helped to dramatically increase UST Short Coupon and Bill desk revenues. Prior to that she worked at Deutsche Bank in Synthetic Equities and Cloudview Capital Management, a global-macro hedge fund, on their trading desk. Lauren graduated from the University of Maryland in 2006, with a BA in communications and concentration in business. She earned ACC Academic Honor Roll, and Intercollegiate Athletic Honor Roll during her time at Maryland. Lauren is a two-time all-American field hockey player, she played in the Junior Olympics, and went on to play Division I at the University of Maryland, the nation’s top ranked program. She plays the piano, violin, has two older brothers, adores her parents, and loves to ski!
Shaun Grove
Jeff Yasuda
Jeff is a long-time entrepreneur that continues to find new ways to combine his passion for building businesses with his love of music.
Prior to Feed.fm, Yasuda launched Blip.fm, which grew to over 1 million registered DJs who reached over 30 million people on Twitter.
Before becoming an entrepreneur, Jeff was the Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of Silicon Valley VC firm Redwood Ventures, where he held board directorships and managed investments in their technology portfolio. Prior to joining Redwood, he worked in Investment Banking at Lehman Brothers, concentrating on technology financings within Equity Capital Markets.
Mike Telem
Mike is the Co-founder and Chief Business Officer at Kemtai focusing on strategic business development and B2B deals. He is a serial entrepreneur with experience in building and marketing digital products. Mike was previously VP of Product Innovation and Product Marketing at Marketo which he joined Marketo following the acquisition of Insightera, the startup he co-founded in 2009 which provided a real-time web personalization SaaS for global businesses.
Helene Guilaume
Helene Guillaume is the founder and CEO of WILD.AI. She studied mathematics and financial risks, was a quant in a hedge fund and management consultant to Fortune500 companies in AI. She was a rugby player; she's an ultra-marathon runner, triathlete, surfer, skier, and ice-swimmer. Her favorite combined skillset is vitality+brains.
Jason Moore
Eric Posner
Vincent Miceli
Ed Lippie
Since entering the world of human performance in 1997, Ed's mission has been to help those he works with maximize their potential. As a 1995 graduate of Union College, Ed has sought to apply a complex systems approach to the well-being of his clients, understanding that achieving wellness requires the consistent practice of several overlapping elements. Much of Ed's career has been spent working with professional athletes from the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, PGA, MLS, EPL, & Serie A. His most recent experience in pro sports with Serie A giant, AS Roma, included the adoption of a variety of sports technology products and services. Lessons learned from working with pro athletes, clients and the application of sports technology inspired him to join the Bearn team and help further their goal of democratizing wellness.
Lou DeFrancisco
Andy Hoang
Meridith Cass
Sameer Baroova
Sameer Baroova is a gaming industry veteran having worked on many popular titles such as Bejeweled and Plants Vs Zombies, both of which helped kick-start the casual and mobile game revolution.
Sameer has worked on emerging gaming hardware and technologies from an early onset on various platforms including mobiles, smartphones, portable consoles, smart TVs, VR and AR devices.
He and his FitXR Co-Founder, Sam Cole, met in business school and quickly discovered that they shared a passion for wanting to leverage the power of VR/AR to change how people exercised. Together they launched FitXR (originally called BoxVR) in June of 2017. Today FitXR is one of the most downloaded fitness apps on the Meta Quest platform.
Sameer has an MBA from Judge Business School in Cambridge and a Bachelors in Software Engineering from Delhi University.
Lindsay Cook
Robbie Bent
JT Groarke
After a career in finance, JT opened a boutique training gym in NYC. His newfound love for the fitness industry coupled with a desire to pursue an opportunity in the corporate environment, led to the sale of his gym and acceptance of a role on the Gympass Fitness Partnerships team. JT has been with Gympass for 5 years and manages all National Partnerships for Gympass in the US.
Devin Lebrun
Anthony Gonzales
Jeremy Hirsch
Joel Lieginger
Joel Lieginger, Founder and CEO, Paceline: After nearly 20 years as a global leader at the crossroads of financial services, life insurance, and technology, Joel Lieginger had an ah-ha moment when his health and wellness fell by the wayside, leading to the launch of Paceline. Your health is your most valuable asset and the foundation for how everything else functions. Why aren’t we rewarding people for pursuing their wellbeing and for living a healthier, better, and longer life? And better yet, life insurance companies can and should be the payers of preventive health in society.
Jeffrey Morin
Jeff Morin is an MIT-educated engineer and certified personal trainer with an eye for both physical and technological performance. As CEO & Co-Founder of Liteboxer, Morin has married his passion for fitness and mechanics to create a first-of-its-kind, fully immersive boxing platform that gamifies at-home workouts. Launched in 2020, the music-driven sports experience aims to get people moving, through a cutting edge platform that uses a Liteshield with six targets, force sensors, and LED lights. Since the launch of its initial Floor Stand model, Liteboxer has launched two additional boundary-breaking fitness products—the Wall Mount and Liteboxer VR—aiming to make fitness more accessible.
Most recently, Morin spearheaded Liteboxer’s entrance to the metaverse with the first fitness VR experience designed by fitness experts for Quest 2. Liteboxer VR made major waves at CES, earning accolades including WIRED’s Best in Gaming and Review Geek’s Best Fitness Tech.
Led by Morin, Liteboxer has raised a total of $28.5 million to date in funding from Nimble Partners, Will Ventures, and Raptor Capital, as well as celebrity investors Timbaland and Pitbull. With Morin at the helm, Liteboxer has also secured an exclusive partnership with Universal Music Group, doubled their team since its launch, identified and partnered with key pop culture influencers like Triller and 2Chainz, and seen exponential growth across organic and earned media.
Prior to founding Liteboxer, Morin worked as Manufacturing Lead at Formlabs, and also oversaw manufacturing management, supply chain and procurement at DEKA. He is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, where he earned a bachelors in mechanical engineering, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned a masters in mechanical engineering.
Matthew Januszek
Robert Louw
As Chief Growth Officer (CGO) for Wexer, Robert Louw is responsible for the full breadth of the customer acquisition journey, spearheading sales and marketing and with it the global growth of the Wexer business.
A passionate advocate of Wexer’s mission – to make world-class wellness accessible to communities across the globe – Robert harnesses his 25 years’ experience and partner-centric mindset to help organisations across multiple verticals to embrace digital and futureproof their businesses.
Robert joined Wexer seven years ago, growing through roles including Global Head of Business Development to join Wexer’s senior management team as CGO in 2021.
Jim Huether
Jim Huether is the Chief Executive Officer at Hyperice. He earned his MBA in Finance and Marketing at Loyola Marymount University, joining Hyperice in January 2014 after serving as Executive Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Xenith, LLC, a sports health and technology company at the forefront of head protection.
Prior to Xenith, LLC Jim led as Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy for the Sports Concussion Institute and held senior Marketing and Finance roles at Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) and Smith Barney, Citigroup.
Under his leadership, Hyperice has grown explosively, placing on the Inc. 500 for five years in a row while defining the international standard for Sport Recovery and Movement Enhancement Technology. A continuous learner with a real passion for business, Jim prides himself on the team-first culture he has built at Hyperice and looks forward to the Hyper-Connected Recovery Ecosystem that will usher Hyperice into its next and most exciting era.
Tom Aulet
Tom is a teacher, turned economic analyst, turned enterprise software revenue leader, turned fitness entrepreneur. After graduating from Vanderbilt with a dual degree in Spanish & Economics, Tom spent a year teaching English to high schoolers in Spain and then two years as an economic consultant at Cornerstone Research. Wanting something completely new, he then jumped to marketing software platform MediaMath where he did global enterprise deals, ran an EMEA & LATAM revenue team out of London, and eventually built and ran the global agency team. While struggling to find a practical and enjoyable fitness routine as a revenue leader for a major tech company, Tom got the idea for Ergatta, partnered with his two favorite ex-colleagues and built the world’s first gaming-enabled cardio machine.
Mauro Frota
Mauro has been involved with different Martial Arts since childhood. Academically his career was always around the subject of adherence and retention in fitness, searching for the "stickiness" to products and services and trying to understand how to keep clients engaged by designing for motivation and with gamification as a centre strategy for mass-adoption. With over 20 years of experience in the fitness space and over 30 in different martial arts, building the "first boxing bag with a brain" was the next logic step. BHOUT positions itself as a gaming company with the heart of a fitness leader, and with a hybrid approach to market
Eric Elia
Eric is Head of Strategic Accounts at Mux where he helps storytellers at product and media companies from around the world build the next generation of video experiences. Mux is a developer video platform that enables innovators such as Equinox Media, Robinhood, VSCO, Reddit, Discovery, Fox and ViacomCBS. Previously he was part of the founding team at Brightcove, the pioneering online video platform company and led the first streaming initiatives at Comcast.
Maris Jameson
Rachel Lea Fishman
Steven Webster
A lifelong entrepreneur, technologist, martial artist and coach, Steven Webster is the CEO & Founder of ASENSEI, the leading technology that uses motion capture and human movement recognition to power personalized Connected Health and Fitness experiences.
Holding a 4th degree black belt and two 2nd degree black belts in Ju Jitsu and Karate, Steven is also one of the most successful sports coaches in British University Sport. He captained and then coached Edinburgh University Karate Club to 10 consecutive national championships. After moving to California in 2009 with the sale of his first company to Adobe, the club won 8 more titles, under a coaching staff he taught as students.
For Adobe, Steven played a leadership role in the creation of a worldwide design-led consulting organization. Steven was trusted advisor to Adobe's most strategic clients, from NATO and NASA to Nike and the NFL.
Prior to ASENSEI, Steven opened Studio 415 for Microsoft, leading a team of Bay Area designers, engineers and data scientists in an innovation lab built to ideate and co-create new experiences with strategic customers including Gatorade and Sony. Working alongside colleagues from Microsoft Kinect, XBox Fitness, Cortana and Health Vault, Steven and team pioneered the idea of natural user interfaces - voice and gesture understanding – to interact with intelligent digital assistants.
In 2014, Steven left Microsoft to start ASENSEI and lead the creation of the “Connected Coaching” category of intelligent sports and fitness technology powered by human movement recognition, that would one day democratize and scale access to world-class personal coaching.
Amira Polark
Amira Polack is the Founder & CEO of Struct Club, a software and data platform elevating group fitness instructor performance in over 70 countries. Polack entered the fitness industry as an indoor cycling instructor and has served on the Board of the Women in Fitness Association, now part of the American Council on Exercise (ACE). Polack is an enterprise software (SaaS) careerist, from Fortune 500 companies like SAP to venture-backed startups such as Kespry (acquired by Firmatek). She earned her MBA at Harvard and BA at Princeton.
Find Struct Club on the App Store, on Instagram @structclub, and Facebook.com/structclub
Connect with Amira on Instagram @amirapolack or Linkedin /amirapolack
Ali Knapp
Jonathan Gelfand
Beth Smits
Emma Barry
Lisa Copeland
Eddie Lester
Andy Hall
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