App-based health and fitness platform Cult.fit on Monday said it has acquired the India business of international fitness chain Gold's Gym for an undisclosed sum. Cult.fit, now a unicorn, picked up a majority stake in F2 Fun & Fitness India Pvt Ltd, becoming the master franchise partner for Gold's Gym in India. Cult.fit now aims to expand the Gold's Gym brand in key geographies such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan.

The company, which currently has Cult and Fitness First brands, said it will focus on independently growing the Gold's Gym brand, scaling revenues of existing Gold's Gym centres, and enabling further expansion using the franchise model.

"We aim to build immense value into the fitness ecosystem generating top-notch tech advancement, great business opportunities, and better returns for our partners in the long run," said Naresh Krishnaswamy, growth and marketing head, Cult.fit. Cult.fit currently operates more than 350 owned and partnered centres in over 25 cities in the country.

It now aims to scale its business across non-metro cities and towns. The second-largest player in fitness with more than 140 outlets in 90 cities, Gold's Gym has multiple long-term franchise partnerships. Cult.fit will also enable all the Gold's Gym centres with its industry leading centre-tech suite and customer app.

"We have a mission to touch 200 clubs in 24 months. With this partnership, we can now leverage Cult.fit's strong technology, operations and demand generation capabilities to further empower and enable our high-quality supply to scale," said Nikhil Kakkar, Chief Operating Officer, Gold's Gym.

Cult.fit recently acquired RPM fitness, Fitkit, Onefitplus, and Urban Terrain. Founded in 2016 by Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori, it recently completed a $150 million Series F fundraise to become a unicorn.