Expresso Fitness Raises $6 Million, Names New CEO
Expresso Fitness, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based provider of interactive cardio fitness systems, has raised $6 million in Series D funding. Return backers include Sierra Ventures, Physic Ventures and Enterprise Partners Venture Capital. The company had previously raised around $34 million, plus a $7 million working capital line from Silicon Valley Bank.
PRESS RELEASE
Expresso Fitness(R), a leading developer of commercial grade, cardio fitness systems including the Expresso Fitness Virtual Reality Bike, announced today that it has closed a Series D equity investment in excess of $6 million from Sierra Ventures, Physic Ventures, and Enterprise Partners Venture Capital. The new funding will enable the company to enhance and accelerate new features and functionality to its leading edge interactive cardio fitness systems, as well as expand sales efforts and support marketing initiatives.
In addition, David Grenewetzki has been named CEO and President of Expresso Fitness. In this role, Mr. Grenewetzki will be responsible for maintaining Expresso’s aggressive growth, while improving business fundamentals.
“Expresso remains committed to our vision of revolutionizing cardio exercise,” states Mr. Grenewetzki. “Even in this economy where our competitors are seeing 30% declines in sales, Expresso has increased revenue by nearly 50% year over year which is great testament to our products and our people.”
According to board member and Sierra Venture’s partner Jeff Loomans, “We believe that Dave’s extensive track record in software and interactive entertainment, his proven ability to lead companies from expansion stage to a successful outcome, and his five years on Expresso’s board, make him a perfect fit for the next stage of the company’s growth.”
To further bolster the company’s management expertise, another board member, William Potts, former president of Precor, will be stepping up his involvement in the day-to-day operations of the company as a senior advisor to Mr. Grenewetzki.
About Sierra Ventures
Sierra Ventures, founded in 1982, is a privately held venture capital firm focused on investments across all areas of the Information Technology sector from semiconductors to enterprise software. Sierra Ventures has managed nine venture capital partnerships and currently has more than $1.5 billion of capital under management. Some of the firm’s investments include 360Commerce (acquired by Oracle), Active Software (acquired by WebMethods), AmeriGroup (AGP), Authentec (AUTH), Centex (acquired by WorldCom), ConvergeNet (acquired by Dell), FatBrain (acquired by Barnes & Noble), Frontbridge (acquired by Microsoft), Healtheon (merged with WebMD), Interact Commerce (acquired by Sage), Intuit (INTU), Micromuse (acquired by IBM), OnAssignment (ASGN), OnLink (acquired by Siebel), Quinta (acquired by Seagate), StrataCom (acquired by Cisco), Sourcefire (FIRE), Sychip (acquired by Murata Manufacturing) and Teradata (acquired by NCR). www.sierraventures.com.
About Enterprise Partners Venture Capital
Enterprise Partners was founded in 1985 and is the largest venture firm headquartered in Southern California, with over $1.1 billion in capital under management. Enterprise focuses on seed, early stage and promising later stage companies across a broad spectrum of technologies and the life sciences. www.epvc.com.
About Physic Ventures
Physic Ventures, based in San Francisco, CA, is the first venture capital firm dedicated to investing in keeping people healthy by providing capital and expertise to science-based, consumer-driven health and sustainable living companies. The firm’s strategy is to capitalize on major economic, social and political trends shaping the landscape of personal and planetary health, including the rapid migration toward a consumer-driven, prevention-oriented “self-care” paradigm. www.physicventures.com.
About Expresso Fitness:
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Expresso Fitness was founded in 2003 with the mission of satisfying an exerciser’s need for an engaging and effective cardiovascular fitness experience. The company leverages the benefits of superior interactive technology at an affordable cost to provide the health, sports and fitness industry with fully integrated, virtual reality-enhanced cardio fitness systems and revenue-generating customer services. Bringing together virtual reality, stationary bike equipment and personalization tools into single, commercial-grade cardio fitness systems, Expresso systems are revolutionizing indoor exercise.
Through its innovative equipment and programs, Expresso Fitness is maximizing customer satisfaction with the cardio workout experience. Riders of Expresso Bikes are engaged, motivated and work out for longer periods of time, resulting in improved fitness. The Expresso Bike also offers a compelling way for fitness facilities to differentiate themselves from the competition and, for the first time, generate revenue directly from the cardio floor.
Expresso systems are sold to fitness facilities and consumers in North America, Europe and Asia. www.expresso.com.
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