Netpulse

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Netpulse

Industry	Fitness technology
Founded	1993; 29 years ago (1993)
Founder	Kevin Martin Jeff Cahn Mike Alvarez Cohen
Fate	Purchased in 2018 by eGym
Headquarters	San Francisco
Owner	eGym
Website	www.netpulse.com

Netpulse is an American fitness technology company, and a provider of branded mobile apps for health clubs. Founded in 1993, in 2018, Netpulse was acquired by eGym.^[1]

History[]

1993-2000[]

Netpulse was founded in 1993 by Mike Alvarez Cohen, Kevin Martin and Jeff Cahn. Their vision for the company was to put a screen in front of every treadmill and exercise bike to enable exercise apps and capture the untapped advertising potential in gyms.^{[citation needed]}

Thomas Proulx, the co-founder of Intuit, joined Netpulse as CEO in 1995. Bryan Arp joined the company in 1996 as its first product manager.^{[citation needed]}

In June 2000, Netpulse E-Zone Media Networks was formed out of E-Zone Networks, Netpulse Communications, and Xystos Media Networks in a merger. The CEO was Andrew Wiswell.^[2] Later in July 2000, Tom Proulx was serving as Netpulse CEO.^[3]

2001-present[]

After the merger with eZone in 2000 proved problematic, Netpulse was re-started in 2001 by Tom and Bryan.^{[citation needed]}

In 2001, the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. Three months later, Tom Proulx came out of retirement and "traded his creditor-ship for the company’s remaining assets," which was announced on May 3 in San Francisco, and made the company solvent again. ^[4] Netpulse made touch screen displays for exercise equipment as of 2010. That year, it raised first $3.1 and then $2 million.^[5]

Netpulse acquired Virtual Active in 2011, a San Francisco-based media company that produces exercise-focused, virtual reality products. Former Virtual Active Founder John Ford has since been promoted to Co-CEO of Netpulse.^[6]

Netpulse acquired Club Apps in 2014, one of the largest providers of custom club mobile applications. The acquisition expanded the Netpulse platform to an additional 700 clubs in the U.S. It also resulted in, Kelly Sweeney, co-founder and former president of Club Apps, joining Netpulse as Vice President of Sales.^{[citation needed]}

In 2018, Netpulse was acquired by eGym, with CEO John Ford replaced with Alex Peacock. Netpulse chairman Tom Proulx joined eGym's board of directors.^[1]

Funding[]

Netpulse has received $40M funding from August Capital, Nokia Growth Ventures and DFJ Frontier. The company's board of directors includes, Mark Mastrov (founder of 24 Hour Fitness) and David Marquardt, the first institutional investor in Microsoft, who has been a member Microsoft's board of directors for the last 33 years.^[7]

Products[]

Branded Mobile Apps[]

Health clubs use Netpulse branded mobile apps as hubs for communication and engagement. Club operators use the app to drive revenue by boosting member referrals, PT sales and member engagement. Club members use the app to register for group exercise classes, track workouts, connect with their favorite fitness devices, redeem club rewards and deals, and access gym information.^{[8][citation needed]}

Cardio Technology[]

Netpulse is designed to amplify the digital experience on cardio equipment. Netpulse has a developer SDK and API for cardio manufacturers to add features to their cardio consoles. The Netpulse platform uses xID, a sign-in that members can use to track workout data on connected cardio equipment and the app.^{[9][citation needed]}

Customers[]

Netpulse branded mobile apps have been used by various club chains. Their systems are used by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). They have also partnered with a number of companies in the fitness field. For example:^[10]

Fitness club chains

• Gold's Gym
• UFC gyms

Cardio OEM manufacturers

Partners

Netpulse have partnered with:

Fitness club technology providers

They also integrate apps with club technology providers like:

Patents[]

Netpulse is an assignee of United States Patent 7022047, Interface for controlling and accessing information on an exercise device, which was patented on April 4, 2006.^[11][12]

References[]