Expresso pulls in $14M for interactive cardio equipment

December 8, 2008 | Camille Ricketts | Comments | |

Is it just me or is one of the best things to hit the gym the mini TV screens now built into treadmills and ellipticals? For all those who now depend on a good episode of CSI to get them through their workout, there’s good news today out of Expresso Fitness, a company that markets exercise bikes to gyms with a media twist. It just raised $14 million in a round of venture debt and private equity for equipment that uses customizable interactive software (in addition to standard TV and internet music) to give customers a unique premium workout.

The Sunnyvale, Calif. company offers two different products (recently updated in October) — an upright bike and a recumbent bike — each outfitted with an LCD screen. But it takes gym entertainment one step further with what it calls its “tours” and “chases,” programs that create virtual biking experiences tailored to each user’s goals and interests. Within the tours application, exercisers can choose to bike along the California coast, or through the Peruvian Mountains (rendered artistically on the screen). They can then feel the hills and dips and curves in how the machine responds.

The chase option sets up an elaborate obstacle course where points can be earned for collecting different items at higher speeds. This allows users to compete against themselves, the computer, or real-life competitors for higher scores and milestone trophies with more intense workouts. The goal is to engage people so intensely that they tire less easily and push themselves more without even necessarily realizing it. At the same time, each machine keeps track of standards like distance covered, time, calories and heart rate.

Expresso Fitness is considered to be part of a gradual trend toward virtual fitness, popularized most recently by the Wii Fit. Personal training video games first emerged in 2006 with the EyeToy: Kinetic for Sony’s Playstation 2, and Yourself!Fitness for the XBox and PC. But Expresso is the first company to gain substantial traction with commercial equipment designed for actual gyms.

The new round of funding will be used to further expand Expresso’s software offerings and to increase market penetration. So far, its bikes have been used to “travel” 20 million miles and burn 700 million calories. $7 million came from Silicon Valley Bank, with the rest coming from existing investors Sierra Ventures, Physic Ventures, and Enterprise Partners Venture Capital. Expresso last raised funds in May, closing a $21 million third-round of funding.

[Images from Expresso.com]

Next Story: Google hopes targeting the iPhone and G1 will brighten the ad gloom
Previous Story: FreundFeed? FriendFeed launches in six new languages

Bookmark and Share

Tags: , , , ,

Photo of Camille Ricketts

About the Author, Camille Ricketts

Camille is the lead writer for GreenBeat. She came to VentureBeat from Google where she worked on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. Before that, she was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York and London. Follow her on Twitter at @camillericketts, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

With GreenBeat 2009, VentureBeat's all-star conference on all things Smart Grid, coming up in November, Camille will be expanding coverage of this exciting space. Stay up to date by following @greenbeat2009 on Twitter or by becoming a fan of the event on Facebook here.

  • Great idea here. Given the lackluster performances put on by gym goers who are lulled into a routine while watching CNN, this is an upgrade.

    What I would suggest is an iphone/mobile app that you can input into the machine so you can take your "experience" on the go. This would allow for greater personalization and even the opportunity to push relevant content back out to the user if they opt in.
  • So far, the execution is lacking. My gym has a couple of these for evaluation, and the interface for setting up your "ride" is clunky and slow (and for some reason, the displays sometimes seems to get 'stuck' displaying in German.)

    But if they can clean up the user experience so that setting up your "ride" is as easy as setting up your program on the treadmill, it has the potential to be a great upgrade for gyms.
  • Alex
    Rode one of these for 9 miles on "wicked workout" settings and nearly died. As a 22 year old in good shape, but not admitted cycling enthuisiast, this concept is great. It motivates you to go faster than you would otherwise because it has a pace setting. Try one at a gym and see how that works out if you are contemplating buying, but so far, it seems great.
    The realism is also pretty good. I bicycle to work every day about 2 miles and I think the inclines keep resistance fairly realistic; however you might kill yourself on some of the most difficult routes: my heart rate averaged 176 over the 45 minute route!