As 2017 draws to a close, Supermonkey—one of the standout startup projects—announced the completion of a Series C funding round worth hundreds of millions of RMB. The round was led by a sports fund jointly initiated by Sequoia Capital China (Sequoia China) and China Media Capital, with follow-on investments from existing shareholders including Fosun RZ Capital, Ventech China, and Dynamo Capital.
When Supermonkey first started in Shenzhen, the industry was still full of debate about the company. Its initial focus on pay-per-session models, container-style fitness pods, and its ambition to become a brand-driven fitness institution were all areas rarely explored in the industry before.
Now, after nearly two years of intensified competition in the fitness industry and internal adjustments, Supermonkey has expanded to Beijing and Shanghai, with nearly 30 stores nationwide, gradually proving to the capital market its ability to manage across regions and replicate single-store models.
In the past year, Supermonkey’s revenue is expected to reach 50 million RMB. Its founder, Tiaotiao, believes the current pace is on track, “If we compare it to the food and beverage industry, we’ve already built a central kitchen and established a complete standardized system.”
This approach is reflected in its directly operated stores, where Supermonkey maintains standardized store layouts, reinforcing its brand identity across various dimensions such as coach training, group class development, culture building, and interior design. Of course, the focus remains on the pricing model and the design of group class content.
In Supermonkey’s latest announcement, they stated, “After reviewing our brand pyramid, we’ve become even more certain about what we want to convey to users: something that is vibrant yet warm, and includes a modern sense of resilience.” The ultimate goal, “is to come across as cool.”
Supermonkey’s rise also benefits from the current characteristics of China’s fitness market, one result of which is that no gym has yet emerged with a sufficiently strong brand effect.
Just like with sports equipment, people tend to consume based on brand, and well-known brands generate stronger consumption motivation. In contrast, gyms in the current market still primarily aim to expand their chain presence. People consume and purchase based on fitness needs or location, and brand is still not the top consideration.
During this two-year period of consumption transformation, the fitness market can be divided into four major segments based on payment models and scenarios.
The first is traditional gyms. They focus on facilities and services. Major chain clubs like Wells, Anytime Fitness, Jinji Niao, and Haosha Fitness maintain the traditional prepaid annual membership model, with each having around 200 stores.
In terms of emergence time, the next segment is private coaching studios, which also represent a sizable market. These offer more diverse formats, flexibly adjusting pricing and operational models based on location and target demographics.
Then there are the new-style gyms that emphasize monthly or per-session passes, addressing the needs of younger fitness users for environment, content, and service.
The latest model is the shared fitness pod concept, targeting specific scenarios like communities, business districts, and parks. Recent startups have different strategies: Miipao leads in community scenarios with its ground promotion team; ParkBox changes the pod form to target parks and communities; PureRun emphasizes its supply chain advantage with a focus on purification systems; and recently angel-funded Jipao Bar is trying the office building scenario.
Comparing these, whether in terms of market share or user reputation, none of the four major fitness segments has yet seen a dominant brand player. The fitness industry remains a blue ocean market.
For Supermonkey, often categorized among new-style gyms, its opportunity lies in the fact that, within its peer market, Leke Sports—which already has 200 stores—focuses on being a platform by rapidly expanding stores to match enough coaches, venues, and users; Guangzhuquan insists on a franchise model, controlling quality by raising franchise entry barriers; and KuaiKuai Fitness, with nearly 160 stores, takes a lightweight approach, improving space efficiency and standardizing configurations. Different new-style gyms emphasize different core development paths.
One of Supermonkey’s biggest investments in its later development has been shifting toward course content development.
It’s important to note that, fundamentally, most gyms in China do not provide their own content. To date, most fitness courses on the market come from curriculum development systems like Les Mills and Zumba. A key reason is that course development requires significant time and labor investment.
Jiang Nan, CEO of Les Mills China, once told reporters that just for the music component of group exercise courses, the core team spends considerable resources on rhythm tuning, copyright purchases, and researching global trends.
For traditional gyms, group classes are considered an added-value service and do not directly generate cash revenue. But from the consumer side, with the surge in beginner users today, group classes not only meet basic fitness needs but, more importantly, their social aspect adds motivation to an otherwise “anti-human nature” activity.
Self-developed courses have now become a core part of Supermonkey’s revenue and brand.
▲ User stickiness is closely tied to star trainers
Supermonkey’s desire to build a brand even leads it to slow down its expansion in store numbers. “In 2017, our store-opening speed in Shanghai was slightly slower,” Tiaotiao said, calling it a regret for 2017. “But in terms of playing it safe, ensuring the brand isn’t diluted is the most important, so it’s worth going a bit slower.”
After securing this round of funding, Supermonkey will accelerate its store expansion. In 2018, it plans to add around 100 new directly operated stores, focusing on cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Nanjing.
Course development will remain a priority. Supermonkey revealed that launched courses include the combat class Fighting Club, the high-intensity metabolic class Energy Break, and the functional class Upper Shaper. “We actually developed 10 courses, but internally scrapped six,” Tiaotiao told reporters.
Merchandise will also be gradually developed in 2018, starting with smart wearable devices. Additionally, talent reserves and backend system construction will see increased investment.
However, branding is the most emphasized development direction after this funding round for Supermonkey.
On the positive side, under the national fitness policy, working out is becoming a lifestyle, and the increasing number of various types of gyms is also raising user awareness of the market. Supermonkey, which pioneered this path, already has a loyal following.
The challenge lies in the fact that at this stage, Supermonkey’s user stickiness relies too heavily on star trainers, self-developed innovative courses require substantial investment, and common gym operation issues like cross-regional management and location selection may limit the speed of store replication.
The initiators behind the new round of lead investors, Sequoia China and Huayi Media, have previously made investments in sectors such as retail, consumer goods, and sports, and will also provide more resources and advice from the perspective of fitness retailing. “The entire process was finalized in about a week,” Tiaotiao noted that this round of fundraising went surprisingly smoothly.
Against the backdrop of major shifts in the consumer environment, demographics, and habits, can Supermonkey — which built its early advantages and positioned itself with the label “cool” — become the fitness industry’s first breakout brand? The year 2018, following the new round of funding, is extremely critical.