VirZOOM

[Closed for Investment] VirZOOM is here to offer people a glimpse into the future of fitness. Their third-gen product, VZfit, turns any bike into VR fitness in just five minutes -- and they help people workout longer. On average, VirZOOM riders average 3x more workout time than non-VirZOOM riders. So far, the company has a commercial agreement with Life Fitness to bring VZfit to over 20,000 health clubs and commercial fitness centers worldwide; over 2,000 V1 products have been sold; and they were voted a Top 10 Most Innovative Company by Fast Company in 2018.

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Investment Overview

Raised this Round: Raised: $288,525

Deal Terms

Total Commitments ($USD)

Platform
Wefunder
Start Date
10/11/2018
Close Date
04/14/2019
Min. Goal
$250,000
Max. Goal
$600,000
Min. Investment

$250

Security Type

SAFE

SEC Filing Type

RegCF    Open SEC Filing

Valuation Cap

$8,000,000

Discount

20%

Company & Team

Company

Year Founded
2015
Industry
Fitness & Wellness
Tech Sector
Hardwaretech
Location
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Company Website
Visit Website

Team

Employees
11

Financials

Financials are not currently available for this company. This may occur if the company is still Testing the Waters, is a Regulation D offering, or if the financials are still under review and being confirmed by our team. For Reg CF and Reg A+ raises, please check back later.

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Analyst Report Analyst Report Methodology Article

Summary

VirZoom is a virtual reality fitness technology company trying to reinvent the way individuals work out. The company is selling hardware and software that will turn any stationary bike into a gaming experience. VZFit is VirZoom’s third-generation product, a turnkey system that includes a sensor, console, and Acer WMR headset. Along with a $995 annual digital services fee, the product’s total cost comes out to $2995. The current product operates via a B2B2C model.

On January 24, 2019, the company announced pre-orders for VZFit for personal use. Prior to their third-generation product, the company sold a consumer product selling about 2000 units.

Next Section: Other

Market & Background

VirZoom is a company playing in the $32b+ North American health club market, which has been growing about 3% annually for the last ten years. According to the IHRSA, 67% of 52.9 million gym memberships went unused in 2014. This sentiment seems to have stayed the same as gyms have done very little to incentivize their members to return. For this reason, gyms should be more likely to buy into the VirZoom concept since with higher member retention comes better brand recognition and economies of scale.

Over the past three years, VirZoom claims to have proven that VR-equipped bikes motivate riders to return to the gym. Despite failing to successfully scale while selling B2C, the company has legitimate data from the 2000 sales they made to claim that people ride 38 minutes and 3.25 days a week with VirZoom as opposed to riding only 21 minutes and 1.25 days a week without it.The obesity epidemic in America is only getting worse and consumers know this, which is why many millennials are opting to live healthier lifestyles from an early age by investing in Peloton, getting into CrossFit, and trying other forms of equipment-less workouts. Although there seems to be a trend towards gym-less health and fitness, we don’t believe this is a trend foreshadowing the end of gyms.

According to VirZoom founder, “Commercial fitness equipment makers need a scalable, commercial product that will get consumers back on their equipment in their gym customer sites and they need it now. Only VirZOOM has it.”

Next Section: Why We Like it

Why We Like it

ESports Tailwinds: Not only is the growth of this company fueled by the landscape described above, but it is also touching on the eSports industry, which will soon be a one billion dollar business growing at an 18% CAGR. The rise of gaming and VR gaming is VirZoom’s main selling point. We see this as an opportunity for the company to leverage in the future if VirZoom can develop a competitive game on their platform.

Traction: VirZoom has partnered with Life Fitness, the largest commercial fitness equipment company to sell directly to gyms. This is a huge step in the right direction for VirZoom to sell to commercial bike manufacturers. This major partnership should also help to spur more corporate and technology partners, which the team has suggested as well.

Power of the Crowd: This is VirZoom’s third crowdfunding campaign and the company’s third time raising over 100% of their goal. VirZoom has hundreds of individual investors supporting them and vouching for their brand. VirZoom is the first company to offer a legitimate alternative to working out in the traditional sense.

Management Team: Eric Janszen and Eric Malafeew are the two founders of VirZoom. The CEO Janszen is an experienced executive, product manager, and multi-time founder. The CTO Malafeew has a masters in mechanical engineering at MIT and over 20 years in the video games industry.

The two founders are also supported by other engineers, a designer, and a product VP. The only thing the team needs now is salespeople to maintain and create relationships with more equipment manufacturers.

Next Section: Rating

Rating

VirZoom is a Deal To Watch. The immersive exercise space has obviously seen significant growth in the past fe w years with companies like Peloton now valued at $4.4B and ZWift, which raised over$120M at the end of 2018 to reinvent the way we exercise on stationary bikes.

VirZoom has found its niche, focused more on the VR and gamification element as it’s differentiator. The landscape for a product like VirZoom’s is looming, but somewhat lacking VR adoption may prevent it from being mainstream in the near future.

The success of the company relies heavily on the mainstream adoption of VR. However, if it does continue to gather further traction, this could be an attractive acquisition candidate for the Peloton’s of the world that are well capitalized and looking to grow rapidly.

Another risk of investing in VirZoom is the uncertainty with its business model. Only time will tell how their deal with Lifetime Fitness will work out and how VZFit for personal use with play out. If the VZFit technology is up to standards and COGS can be minimized to under $1000 then it is likely that the company will be able to scale to the likes of ZWift.

Regardless, the team will need to show more execution before feeling confident that this team can see it through to an attractive exit opportunity. For these reasons, VirZoom is a Deal To Watch at the current $8M valuation!

Company Funding & Growth

Funding history

Close Date Platform Valuation Total Raised Security Type Status Reg Type
11/06/2024 DealMaker Securities $61,360,000 $193,351 Equity - Preferred Funded RegCF
07/06/2023 StartEngine $45,758,966 $192,665 Equity - Preferred Funded RegCF
07/07/2022 Wefunder $30,499,157 $1,476,203 Equity - Preferred Funded RegCF
11/22/2020 Wefunder $20,000,000 $454,166 SAFE Funded RegCF
04/14/2019 Wefunder $8,000,000 $288,525 SAFE Funded RegCF
05/31/2017 Netcapital $8,000,000 $548,968 Equity - Common Funded RegCF
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Growth Charts

Revenue History

Note: Revenue data points reflect the latest of either the most recent fiscal year's financials, or updated revenues directly from the founder, at each raise's close date.

Valuation History

Price per Share History

Note: Share prices shown in earlier rounds may not be indicative of any stock splits.

Employee History

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VirZOOM on Wefunder
Platform: Wefunder
Security Type: SAFE
Valuation: $8,000,000

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