up to be strategic investors, pointing to the interest in such technologies held by the e-commerce and music industries.
Last month, another app-based fitness company, ClassPass, raised $85 million in a Series C round led by Tamasek Holdings of Singapore. The New York-based company connects users to a variety of fitness classes for a set monthly fee, and plans to spend the money to expand into 20 new countries and 10 additional U.S. cities by the end of next year.
Kampshoff says those sorts of announcements validate her belief in a need for something like Kanthaka. “Our model is very similar to this,” she says. “Our app is like a boutique gym but easier and more affordable.”
In addition to the on-demand focus, another way that Kanthaka’s model resembles Uber is its monetization of unused capacity—in this case, apartment gyms. Most of the app’s customers live in multi-family buildings with fitness centers. Kanthaka can provide a gym-style workout without the membership fees and the high trainer fees, she says.
In addition to signing on individual customers, Kampshoff has inked partnerships with three large apartment developers— Hanover Company, Morgan Group, and Greystar properties—to offer training as an amenity at some locations. Kanthaka is also offering its services at the Post Oak Hotel, the latest in Houston businessman Tilman Fertitta’s hotel properties.
Kampshoff launched Kanthaka in late 2016 as she was starting a six-month maternity leave. When it was time to get back to lawyering, she says she decided to pursue the startup full-time instead. Since then, she has bootstrapped Kanthaka, building up the corps of trainers and soliciting customers.
She’s now soliciting angel groups to find outside investors to help expand Kanthaka’s geographical footprint: the startup plans to announce service in Austin next month. “I think we can own the Texas market,” she says.
