Tata-backed fitness chain Cult.fit plans to launch its IPO in the next 12-18 months, executives at the company told Moneycontrol, although they could not disclose the size of the offering.

The Mukesh-Bansal-led chain now operates two main businesses – fitness and e-commerce. In the pre-Covid days, the startup operated 250 centres. The business has now grown to 600 centres in 40 cities.

The Bengaluru-based company has also increased revenue by 50% from pre-pandemic levels and is now operationally profitable. Krishnaswamy added that an average fitness centre has about 250 to 300 visitors a day. Online courses make up 10% of the overall business. CultFit acquired Fitso from Zomato last year and the Gold’s Gym franchise in India.

The company has also expanded direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales. Before Covid, it only sold fitness apparel, and now it includes products such as treadmills, stationary bikes, bicycles and activewear. The business now contributes a third of total revenue, Krishnaswamy said.

Krishnaswamy said they are now focused on having a strong stock after going public, as many companies have failed to hold their share prices even after the blockbuster openings.

Founded in 2016 by Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori and renamed Cult.fit, CureFit provides fitness-related services through online and offline channels. In addition to online classes, these primarily consist of offline group workouts at Cult.fit centres and other gyms or equipment-based workouts at partner gyms and fitness centres.

Cult.fit, which has been hit hard by the closure of many centres during the pandemic, immediately turned to online virtual classes. The startup even fired employees but got Tata Digital’s backing, and Bansal joined Tata in an executive role. Nagori, on the other hand, now operates Curefoods, an independent cloud kitchen platform.