Indian fitness platforms operator Cult.fit Ltd has filed preliminary papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for an initial public offering (IPO) comprising up to ₹950 crore in newly issued shares and an offer-for-sale (OFS) component.
The OFS, by a clutch of existing shareholders, can potentially take the IPO size to up to ₹4,000 crore, two people aware of the matter told Mint.
Major investors, including Temasek, Fitness First Luxembourg S.C.A., Chiratae Ventures, Tata Digital, Accel India, Kalaari Capital and Schroders Capital, are selling up to 178.6 million shares through the OFS.
The selling shareholders also include Asian Paints promoter entity Doli Trading and Investments Pvt, hospitality firm Sun N Sand Hotels Pvt and high-profile angel and celebrity-backed vehicles, such as Sateesh Andra’s Endiya Partners, former Myntra chief executive officer (CEO) Ananth Narayanan’s family trust, and actor Hrithik Roshan’s HRX investment arm, Extreme Brands.
Individual shareholders selling stake include founder Mukesh Bansal, angel investor Bruno Raschle and Hrithik Roshan.
Eternal Ltd, which acquired a 6.4% stake in Cult.fit in 2021, is not selling any stake.
Proceeds from the fresh issue will go towards setting up new fitness centres, lease agreements of existing centres, debt repayment, brand marketing and subsidiary investment, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP).
Pre-ipo move
The fitness firm may also consider a pre-IPO placement of up to ₹190 crore, which, if undertaken, will reduce the fresh issue size accordingly.
Cult.fit’s immediate priority is securing regulatory clearance from Sebi, while the exact launch date remains fluid, the first person said on the condition of anonymity.
“While an IPO is the ultimate goal, the company does not want to rush to a listing. Once the regulatory approval is in, the focus will be on waiting for the right window for the launch,” this person said.
The decision to adopt a flexible timeline follows a move by cloud-kitchen operator Curefoods—a separate corporate entity initiated by Cult.fit co-founder Ankit Nagori—to defer its ₹800 crore public listing plans.
Axis Capital Ltd, Goldman Sachs (India) Securities Pvt, Jefferies India Pvt, JM Financial Ltd and Morgan Stanley India Co are managing the share sale.
Founded in 2016 by Myntra co-founder Mukesh Bansal and Nagori, Cult.fit operates 708 fitness centres across 77 cities in India. It reached a valuation of approximately $1.5 billion (around ₹14,000 crore in today’s conversion) during a funding round in late 2021 and has since secured additional capital, including a ₹440 crore investment from Temasek in March this year at a reportedly flat valuation.
Cult.fit recorded operating revenue of more than ₹1,721 crore for the fiscal 2026, representing a growth of roughly 40% from the ₹1,216 crore reported in the previous fiscal year. However, the company remains loss-making, with full-year losses of ₹252 crore in FY26 compared to ₹481 crore loss the year before and ₹888 crore loss in FY24.
The company generates approximately 70% of its revenue from fitness subscriptions and services across its network of gyms and group workout centres. The remaining 30% of its revenue is driven by its transaction-based fitness product division.
Cult.fit has no listed peers in India or globally that operate in a similar business. The IPO filing represents the first public listing for the country’s commercial wellness sector, a category pioneered by Talwalkars Better Value Fitness Ltd.
Talwalkars became the first Indian fitness chain to list on local exchanges in 2010, establishing the organized gym model in the country. However, the legacy operator faced financial distress due to debt accumulation, auditor resignations, and operational disruptions, leading to defaults. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted the company for corporate insolvency resolution in 2021.
