Masterfit Files for IPO: AI-Powered 'Sky Eye' System Revolutionizing Smart Gyms

A Personal Anecdote from the Reporter: On one occasion, while using equipment at a gym, a trainer approached me and asked me to “move aside” so that his private client could use it. Since then, I have never renewed my gym membership. My experience may be extreme, but how many people are truly satisfied with their gyms in reality?

In reality, gyms often need to continuously attract new customers, sell memberships, and sell classes to ensure cash flow, often neglecting the user experience of 70%–80% of customers who do not purchase personal training services. Data shows that the churn rate for gyms is 85%. Helping customers truly achieve their fitness and health goals is the real value of a gym and also a key profit driver for increasing customer stickiness.

In May 2017, Wang Guanying, with 15 years of experience in the fitness industry, founded Masterfit to provide gyms with a comprehensive solution encompassing both hardware and software. Positioned as a virtual personal trainer for users, it leverages AI technology to address the pain points of non-personal-training clients and enhance user experience.

Masterfit equipment installed in gyms functions as an "Omniscient Eye System." The system inputs customers' basic data, with AI automatically recommending a personalized exercise regimen while monitoring workout frequency and the entire exercise process. It intelligently identifies incorrect movements and alerts users to prevent sports injuries.

VCBeat (WeChat: vcbeat) has learned that Masterfit has signed contracts with 213 chain gyms nationwide, with a total contract value reaching tens of millions of yuan.

The fitness industry needs to refine itself by eliminating the inferior and retaining the superior. Wang Guanying stated, “Not everyone can become a personal trainer simply by obtaining a certification. We need to establish a tiered system, raise the rates for high-quality coaches so they can focus on teaching, and phase out those whose skills are inadequate.”

Integrating AI is an inevitable path for the development of the fitness industry, which requires internet-centric thinking. Wang Guanying aims to intelligently upgrade gyms by leveraging AI to handle foundational tasks such as data collection, customer monitoring, and sports injury prevention. This approach not only enhances operational efficiency and reduces labor costs but also delivers tangible health benefits to customers.

The team’s initial concept was to collect users’ fitness activity data through wearable devices. However, during implementation, it became apparent that this approach would require extensive retrofitting of gyms and incur high costs. Moreover, it was constrained by customers’ willingness to comply; if users forgot to wear the devices, it would result in missing data and inaccurate analysis.

Therefore, Masterfit has adopted unobtrusive data collection. By leveraging computer vision recognition systems and deep learning neural networks, it collects, records, and feeds back customer data in gyms to both customers and gym operators. This enables customers to review their fitness metrics and gym managers to monitor daily foot traffic. Meanwhile, serving as a “third eye” for trainers, Masterfit helps identify clients who require targeted guidance.

Masterfit provides a comprehensive solution encompassing both software and hardware, with its hardware system primarily consisting of high-definition cameras equipped with built-in FPGA chips and GPUs that can be installed in gyms.

Masterfit’s Hardware Equipment – Compiled by VCBeat

Wang Guanying stated that Masterfit’s motion recognition algorithm requires extensive data for validation. This is precisely why Masterfit has targeted existing gyms: to continuously refine its AI algorithms and expand its database by leveraging the vast number of gyms already on the market.

MasterFit requires precise identification of the customer's target training areas and, based on movement amplitude and angles, determines which muscles or joints are bearing load and generating force. It is reported that, to date, MasterFit’s solution can recognize hundreds of exercises, essentially covering common movements involved in fitness routines, with an accuracy rate of 99%.

With the assistance of MasterFit, clients reduce sports injuries and boost their interest in fitness; fitness institutions lower labor costs, enhance customer stickiness, and increase membership renewal rates; and fitness coaches deliver targeted training to members by leveraging comprehensive client data.

Given the prevalent “quick-profit” mindset in the current gym industry, Wang Guanying is targeting not only existing gyms but also public institutions. When training employees at these institutions, AI is used to automatically detect whether their exercises are performed correctly and identify any improper form.

Regarding its revenue model, in addition to charging for bundled hardware (approximately 40–50 cameras for a 2,000-square-meter gym), MasterFit also provides outsourced event operation services to gyms, collecting an annual service fee of several thousand yuan. Guan Ying stated that recurring service fees will become a significant and highly sustainable revenue stream for MasterFit in the future.

Regarding next steps, Wang Guanying stated that the company will continue to expand its business by pursuing both enterprise and institutional markets in parallel, while continuously optimizing AI computing through data-driven approaches to enhance software and hardware performance.

The project is currently raising funds.