Elena Tumashova, a columnist for Forbes Kazakhstan, shares with readers the news about the expansion of the 1Fit company.

The Kazakh startup 1Fit, a single subscription service for fitness classes, went to another continent: on August 1, 2024, the project started in Mexico.

The first overseas location for 1Fit was Guadalajara— the second most populous city in Mexico. The Kazakh project started preparing the local public for its arrival in advance: three months before the official launch, it created a separate page on Instagram. 1Fit's social media advertising posts promise Mexican subscribers "more than 100 gyms and studios" in the app and subscriptions for 90, 180, 365 and 730 days.

Mexico is the sixth country where 1Fit is present. Currently, the app is also available in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and Malaysia. In Kazakhstan, a total of 800 halls have been connected in seven cities — Almaty, Aktau, Pavlodar, Shymkent, Karaganda, Aktobe and Astana, 1Fit CEO Murat Alikhanov told Forbes Kazakhstan in the fall of 2023. At the same time, in Uzbekistan, a single fitness subscription was available in 200 gyms, in Kyrgyzstan — in slightly less than 100. The startup entered Azerbaijan in September 2023. In two months of preparation, the project has connected 50 fitness locations there, now there are 130. On the eve of the launch in Baku, Alikhanov said that the team is trying to select new markets with similar conditions in order to "replicate the processes." Azerbaijan was chosen due to the fact that it is a neighboring country with similar "macroeconomic variables." 1Fit started in Malaysia a few months ago, and now more than 200 gyms are available to wanfitters there.

In addition, in two markets — in The startup tried itself in the UK and Russia, but did not work there for various reasons.

In the UK, 1Fit launched in February 2023, but had to leave less than six months later. The plans for Albion were big, and the startup in London, where it worked under the Helsi brand, recruited more than 50 partners. However, the project failed to "apply all the mechanisms established in Asia." "It looked like we had launched another startup with much higher risks inside the startup," he explained. Murat Alikhanov in the comments in June 2023. Leaving the UK cost 1Fit 50 million tenge (they returned the money to the users and settled with the partners).

The startup left Russia in March 2022. He began expansion in this country in September 2021, and by November the company was making progress in growth. But "because of the situation in Ukraine," she decided not to work in this market.

Murat Alikhanov is a member of the Forbes Kazakhstan "30 under 30" rating (in 2020). The 1Fit application is No. 33 in the ranking of the 45 largest online trading platforms (in 2023) with an estimated revenue of $11.72 million.

Source: Forbes.kz