April 25, 2024

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Butfit Seoul, a South Korean startup dedicated to group circuit training programs, has fetched a 1.5 billion won ($1.3 million) series A round funding, its investors said on June 4.

Korean early-stage venture investors, Company K Partners and Kakao Ventures, have joined the round. 

Courtesy of Butfit Seoul

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Butfit Seoul’s programs -- a combination of offline group circuit training sessions and online rewards platform -- mainly target people in their 20s and 30s in search of self-motivation for workouts, Kakao Ventures said. The startup also allows trainers and customers to take advantage of fitness centers that are empty.

The round funding will be used to strengthen an online service and secure more offline venues for group workouts, according to Butfit Seoul CEO Chang Min-woo.

Since the launch of the service in March 2017, Butfit Seoul has accumulated some 12,000 participants in the group circuit workouts over the course of two years.

“Butfit Seoul is looking to preoccupy the workout-related industry in Korea and is expected to take the industry to the next level,” said Kakao Ventures CEO and Managing Partner Chung Shin-a in a statement. “We are seeing a fast-growing community-based marketplace here amid millennials’ sense of entitlement and rising demand for leisure activities.”

By Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)