Cult.fit DRHP: Growth drivers beyond gyms in India

What the DRHP conversation is really about

The online conversation around Cult.fit’s DRHP is increasingly focused on growth drivers that sit alongside the core gym membership engine. CEO Naresh Krishnaswamy has linked the company’s recent recovery to franchise-driven expansion and deeper penetration in India’s top cities. At the same time, Cult.fit has built a products business that started around 2019-20 and has expanded into apparel, footwear, and fitness equipment. Social posts also point to improved gym economics, with revenue growth while costs stayed largely flat at the unit level. The company is already present in more than 75 cities and has publicly stated an ambition to become a 100-city business within five to six years. A recurring theme is that the next phase of growth is expected to come from formats and channels that widen the funnel beyond premium gyms. Another thread is that execution, rather than competition, will likely decide outcomes as the company moves beyond metros. These points are shaping how investors and customers interpret the DRHP narrative.

Franchise-led scale is central to network expansion

Cult.fit’s network build-out is being described as franchise-heavy rather than purely company-owned expansion. Nearly 400 of the company’s 700-plus centres are now franchise-operated, according to comments attributed to Krishnaswamy. He has also said about two-thirds of new openings are coming through franchisees, and this approach is expected to remain central to scaling. The franchise route is being positioned as a way to expand faster while managing capital and operating complexity. The target is not just more pins on the map but also deeper penetration, particularly as the company looks beyond the largest metros. Cult.fit has pointed out that a significant part of the fitness market operates outside the top four cities, which supports the rationale for non-metro expansion. However, the same commentary flags operational expertise and trainer availability as real constraints in smaller markets. That context explains why the company says it had to rethink what a traditional franchise model looks like in organised fitness. The DRHP-linked debate is therefore not only about growth, but also about the repeatability of operations across varied city tiers.

Cult Neo and the ₹10,000-12,000 membership sweet spot

Cult Neo is being presented as a key expansion tool, especially in India’s largest fitness market. Krishnaswamy has pointed to the lower-priced format, with annual memberships priced at ₹10,000-12,000, as a major growth driver. Social discussion frames this as an attempt to tap a broader customer segment that may not convert at premium price points. Cult Neo is also tied to the company’s push into Tier-II and Tier-III cities, where demand may be more price-sensitive. The strategy is not positioned as a move away from gyms, but as a format tweak aimed at widening accessibility. In the same commentary, the company has said it is prioritising convenience-led formats such as gyms in corporate tech parks and residential complexes. It has also suggested that at-home fitness, which saw traction during the pandemic, is no longer a priority for it. That stance matters because it keeps capital and attention focused on physical infrastructure and utilisation. For readers tracking the DRHP, Cult Neo is emerging as the shorthand for how Cult.fit intends to grow outside premium metro clusters.

Products have become a second growth engine

Beyond memberships, Cult.fit’s products business is being discussed as the company’s most visible diversification lever. The company says products now contribute around 30% of overall revenue, creating a mix of recurring and transactional income streams. This arm started around 2019-20 and has broadened from a single category into apparel, footwear, and fitness equipment. Revenue from product sales is reported to have grown from ₹64.2 crore in FY22 to ₹326.4 crore in FY25. In the same conversations, Cultsport is described as having shipped over 4 million individual units in FY26. Some posts interpret this as proof that the company can monetise fitness intent even outside the gym floor. Others focus on the strategic point that products can scale through multiple channels, including e-commerce marketplaces and the company’s own website. A Mint report referenced in social shares noted an expectation from the CEO that the products arm could eventually rival the services segment in scale. Even so, the company’s messaging keeps gym memberships as the backbone, with products positioned as the next major engine rather than a replacement.

Offline retail is being scaled alongside D2C

The products push is not limited to online distribution, based on details circulating around the DRHP. Cult.fit sells products via e-commerce platforms, its own website, and exclusive brand outlets. The company currently has 30 exclusive brand outlets across Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, as cited in the context shared online. Krishnaswamy has said the company plans to scale this network to about 300 outlets over the next four to five years. That plan is being interpreted as an effort to build a more visible consumer brand, not just a services subscription. Social commentary also links this to customer acquisition, because stores can act as a low-friction entry point into the ecosystem. The offline push is being discussed alongside the company’s move into niche segments such as Pilates, which broadens the in-person offering. Importantly, the strategy described is additive, with gyms still identified as the core focus for the near term. The overall picture emerging is of an integrated fitness ecosystem that uses multiple touchpoints to keep customers engaged. For DRHP readers, the key question is how efficiently the retail footprint can scale without diluting returns.

Unit economics and profitability are being watched closely

A repeated claim in the shared context is that Cult.fit improved gym economics by growing revenue while keeping costs largely flat at the unit level. Separately, sources cited in social discussions say the company turned EBITDA positive in the last quarter of FY26, with double digit EBITDA improvement. The argument is that operational efficiencies and disciplined cost management have supported a rapid improvement in profitability. At the same time, posts acknowledge that key expenses such as rent and employee costs continue to rise. That combination is why unit-level discipline is being treated as the central KPI, not just topline growth. The company’s diversification is also framed as a way to smooth earnings, with fitness services around 70% of revenue and products around 30%. The numbers most frequently referenced in the public discourse are summarised below.

Subscriber scale and monetisation beyond base plans

Cult.fit has said it crossed 1 million live active paid subscribers, and this scale is central to the DRHP growth story. The business is described as a physical-digital hybrid footprint, with paid users spread across more than 75 cities. Beyond the base membership, the company says around 50% of subscribers purchase additional services, which supports higher revenue per customer. Renewal rates are also described at about 50%, a metric that is being watched because it reflects habit formation. Social discussion notes that gym memberships continue to remain the backbone of the business, even as products gain share. Another monetisation line mentioned is in-centre brand advertising and product sampling, which creates incremental revenue without adding new sites. The company also operates multiple gym brands, with 70-75% of gym vertical revenue coming from the Cult.fit brand and the rest from properties such as Gold’s Gym and Fitness First. The acquisition of Gold’s Gym India in February 2022 is cited as part of an organic and inorganic growth mix. In DRHP debates, the key issue is whether these layers of monetisation can scale consistently in newer markets.

Market tailwinds and the infrastructure constraint

The broader market backdrop is frequently cited as supportive, especially post-pandemic. The fitness and wellness sector saw rapid growth after the pandemic as consumers focused more on health, preventive care, and active lifestyles. Deloitte India and the Health & Fitness Association projection shared online estimates India’s fitness market could more than double from ₹16,200 crore in 2024 to ₹37,700 crore by 2030, at a 15% compound annual rate. The cited drivers include rising health awareness, higher disposable incomes, and increasing digital adoption. Krishnaswamy has also pointed to rising interest in fitness linked to events such as Hyrox and wider social media awareness. But he has argued that the bigger constraint is inadequate fitness infrastructure relative to India’s population. In that framing, Cult.fit’s expansion is positioned as part of an “infrastructure revolution” the company says it is driving. This line matters because it ties the company’s growth to structural under-penetration rather than a short-term trend. It also helps explain why the company is emphasising physical locations, including corporate and residential convenience formats, instead of at-home fitness.

Execution risks investors keep highlighting

Krishnaswamy has said execution, rather than competition, will determine Cult.fit’s next phase of growth, and that message is resonating online. The company has itself flagged two practical challenges in smaller markets - operating expertise at scale and the availability of trained trainers. These constraints can affect consistency in customer experience, which is critical for renewals and word-of-mouth growth. Franchise-led growth can speed expansion, but it also increases the importance of standardised training, hygiene, and equipment quality across centres. The company’s focus on depth and increasing penetration across 100 cities suggests it is not aiming for superficial expansion. At the same time, scaling offline retail from 30 outlets to about 300 outlets over four to five years is operationally demanding, even if the demand opportunity exists. The product business has momentum, but its long-term role depends on maintaining relevance across categories such as apparel, footwear, accessories, and equipment. Another risk debated is whether rising costs like rent and employee expenses can be offset by higher revenue per gym and ancillary sales. The most consistent conclusion across social posts is that Cult.fit’s growth plan has multiple levers, but the outcome will be decided by repeatable execution in non-metro markets.