Ladder – an app for strength training for people who are serious about fitness – recently announced that it has closed a $12 million Series A round led by Tapestry VC and LivWell Ventures.
2023 was a breakout year for Ladder, with the company tracking to 500% growth in its membership, now exceeding 50,000 paying members and 4 million completed workouts.
Even though most products offer a content library of cardio workouts, Ladder delivers progressive, structured workout programming across various strength training modalities. Before Ladder, members have been seeking an easier way to plan their workouts and to maintain a consistent strength training routine.
Every Ladder program (or ‘team’ as they are called) is led by a world-class coach, each coach focuses on a specific strength-training style like pilates, HIIT, bodybuilding, and kettlebell training. Each team has its own set of suggested equipment, with some that are designed for people working out at home, and others made for people training at the gym. And the company will introduce a new team in January that focuses on a combination of yoga and strength training.
Ladder’s growth – unlike many fitness companies – started to accelerate post-Covid. Over half of Ladder’s members are using the Ladder app at the gym, with many now working out in multiple locations, including at home.
Despite rapid growth, the company hasn’t had to grow its headcount rather than opting to build a suite of proprietary software tools and AI-powered capabilities to support its growing membership base.
With the new funding round and looking ahead to 2024, Ladder will continue to focus on growth and keeping its members working out and achieving their goals. Today Ladder best serves people who are already working out, though the company has long-term plans to expand its core user personas to include anyone looking for help with their workouts, including those new to fitness.
Ladder is available for iOS users as a $29.99 per month app subscription with a 7-day free trial that doesn’t require a credit card.
KEY QUOTES:
“Ladder members know exactly what workout to do each day based on their goals and preferred training styles. The experience is built on the core tenets of personal training…high-quality workout programming designed by an expert so you don’t have to think, coaching that provides guidance and answers to your questions, and accountability that’s delivered through shared experiences with other members from around the world doing the same workouts as you.”
“Every feature of the Ladder app has been created to help members stay consistent. We want our members to be excited to work out. We use gamification elements like badges and streaks to make it fun, and features that remind you that your effort is yielding results, most notably the Ladder Journal which makes it easy to track and visualize your progress.” Members have logged nearly 20 million entries in the Ladder Journal since the feature launched in January of this year.
— Ladder CEO Greg Stewart
“We’ve been really impressed by Greg and (Tom Digan, co-founder and president) and their understanding of the fitness consumer. This is a really difficult category to find long-term traction in and Ladder is proving that first-principles-led innovation can win in a big way. Ladder has built engagement levers similar to social apps, but instead of selling your attention to advertisers, they’re genuinely helping you by keeping you excited to work out. We think it’s only a matter of time before Ladder is a household name in consumer fitness.”
— Patrick Murphy of Tapestry VC
“While many companies prematurely added headcount and detached themselves from business fundamentals, Ladder has stayed focused on the needs of its members and has created a durable foundation for long-term success. That focus is paying off in both explosive member growth and the best retention we’ve seen in any mobile fitness product.”
— Doss Cunningham of LivWell Ventures, who is also the founder & CEO of Nutrabolt, the maker of C4 Energy Drink; Cunningham was previously a seed investor in Ladder and joined the company’s board of directors
