The US-based entrepreneur on bringing fitness to the world
Barre, yoga, crossfit, HIIT—these are but some of the terms that have entered into many of our daily lexicons in the last few years. If not, it might have seemed like everyone around you is into fitness lately, attending group workout classes at the many boutique studios around town. It’s true—the fitness industry is on the rise in this part of the world. In 2018, a report published by Deloitte and IHRSA highlighted that the sector in Asia-Pacific is worth US$16.8b, with 25,000 clubs serving 22 million members. Globally, one of the industry’s rising stars is ClassPass.
The New York-based fitness subscription company was established in 2013 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduate Payal Kadakia, after she couldn’t find a dance class to take after work in New York City. Prior to this, the self-professed barre addict honed her business sense in roles at Bain & Company and Warner Music Group.
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Today, Payal sits as the executive chairman of her own successful fitness business, which has presence in more than 50 cities around the world. This August, ClassPass made its first foray into Asia when it launched in Singapore. A month before that, it made headlines for raising US$85m in Series D funding from investment bigwig, Temasek, and the Growth Fund of L Catterton. According to Payal, the funds will be used to further drive ClassPass’ global expansion, which is seeing no signs of slowing down. We sit down with Payal to find out more about how it all started and her vision for the future.
Have you always been an active person?
Payal Kadakia (PK) I’ve been dancing since I was three years old. When my parents, who were chemists, moved to the US from India, they were joined by a group of friends. One of their friends was a dance teacher back in India, and she would gather a few of us young girls in the basement of one of our houses and teach us a variety of Indian folk dance. Dance became a big part of my life as I learned to express myself through it. I also love being able to put my mind to something and practise to get better at it. It teaches me what my potential is. But I’ve had to fight to keep dance in my life, as my parents wanted me to take a standard path in life. Nonetheless, I managed to set up my own dance school, the Sa Dance Company, in 2009 in a bid to raise awareness about Indian dance. I continue to run it today as the artistic director, alongside ClassPass.